Aubergines with black garlic
Have you ever cooked a Yotam Ottolenghi recipe before? If you've never heard of this chef, you've missed out: his books Plenty and Plenty More take vegetables and put them centre stage. No more boring vegetarian main courses. Buy a book now! It will revolutionise the way you cook vegetables.
Serves 4
Vegetarian, gluten free
Ingredients
3 medium aubergines, sliced width ways
300-400ml olive oil
8 large cloves black garlic (this can be purchased online)
200g Greek yoghurt
11/2tsp lemon juice
7 large cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3 red chillies, sliced
handful of dill leaves
handful of basil leaves
handful of tarragon leaves
salt
black pepper
Directions
- Pre-heat oven to its highest setting.
- Put the aubergines slices into a large bowl and coat generously with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Lay them on a baking tray and cook until soft and golden-brown (this took a good hour in our oven).
- Make the topping for the aubergines by mixing together the black garlic, salt, pepper, 2 tbsp olive oil, the yoghurt and the lemon juice in a food processor until you have a paste. Keep in the fridge until needed.
- Heat 100ml olive oil in a small saucepan until hot, then add the garlic and chilli slices. Fry for a few minutes, stirring occasionally, until golden and crispy. Remove with a slotted spoon and put on kitchen towel to soak up any excess oil.
- Assemble you dish by laying the aubergine slices flat, and topping with the black garlic paste and fried chilli and garlic. Sprinkle the fresh herbs over the top. Can be eaten immediately or allowed to cool to room temperature.
Serving suggestion:
Serve with brown rice and a pulse-based salad with a sharp lemony dressing. These flavours and textures provide a nice contrast.
The aubergines reheat quite well in a microwave too, making leftover lunch boxes more interesting.
This recipe tastes even better made with vegetables from Community Harvest Whetstone :)