Ottolenghi Eggplant Fest

January 25, 2014

Cindy returned from a yoke of weeks away nifty to larn dorsum into the kitchen in addition to eating or therefore veggie heavy dishes. We turned, inevitably, to Ottolenghi in addition to came upward alongside a yoke of recipes to fill upward up our Saturday. 

Both dishes involved roasting eggplants over an opened upward flame, non something I'd always been brave plenty to attempt out before. It turns out to last reasonably straightforward - larn your gas burners going in addition to popular the eggplant on top, turning it every few minutes to ensure that the whole matter gets charred. The peel volition blacken in addition to start to peel, but you lot actually require to grade it a proficient xx minutes of cooking - I got worried most over-cooking alongside the start 1 in addition to works life that much of the flesh nether the blackened peel had nonetheless to actually soften up. If you lot produce it right, the filling comes out actually soft in addition to takes solely a flake of mushing to plow into a smoothen paste.

The start of the dishes was Ottolenghi's slightly fancy get got on baba ganoush, a roasted eggplant dip alongside a dash of tahini in addition to lots of big fresh flavours from the veggies, pomegranate in addition to herbs. Once you've roasted the eggplant, this is but a unproblematic 'stir everything together' recipe, in addition to it's good worth the effort. We smeared it on fresh breadstuff for a really satisfying lunch.

The 2nd dish was dinner - a lentil in addition to eggplant dish alongside Ottolenghi's green charge of veggies in addition to herbs to maintain things interesting. The star hither was the eggplant. It's incredibly simple, but roasted to an almost liquid softness in addition to seasoned alongside vinegar in addition to heaps of common salt in addition to pepper, but the smokiness in addition to hint of vinegary sharpness actually shine. The lentil base of operations is proficient also - brand certain you lot don't overcook the cubed veggies, a flake of texture amidst the soft lentils is key. 

We snuff it along to abide by treasures tucked away inwards Plenty - these are a yoke to a greater extent than that we'll last returning to inwards future.

Burnt eggplant alongside tahini

(a recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty)

1 medium eggplant

1/4 loving cup tahini

1/4 loving cup water

two teaspoons pomegranate molasses

juice of one-half a lemon

1 garlic clove, crushed

iii tablespoons parsley, chopped

1/2 cucumber, diced small

half dozen cherry tomatoes, halved

seeds from one-half a pomegranate

olive oil

common salt in addition to pepper

First up, roast the eggplant alongside the peel on. I talked a flake most how to produce this above. Make certain you lot actually blacken the peel in addition to larn the eggplant completely mushed. Halve the eggplant in addition to scoop out the flesh. Drain the flesh inwards a colander for xv minutes or so.

Once it's drained, chop it upward a flake therefore that it starts to plow into a paste. Pop it into a mixing bowl in addition to add together the tahini, water, pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, garlic in addition to parsley in addition to mix everything together well. 

Add the cucumber in addition to tomatoes in addition to stir them through. 

Season alongside common salt in addition to pepper in addition to serve drizzled alongside a splash of olive crude oil in addition to a sprinkle of the pomegranate seeds.

Lentils alongside grilled eggplant

(another recipe from Plenty, also available at The Guardian)

two medium eggplants

two tablespoons cherry vino vinegar

200g puy lentils

iii modest carrots

two sticks of celery

1 bay leaf

iii sprigs thyme

1 modest white onion, halved

iii tablespoons olive oil

10 cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 teaspoon brownish sugar

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

1 tablespoon chopped coriander

1/2 teaspoon dried dill

common salt in addition to pepper

yoghurt for dolloping

Preheat the oven to 140°C.

Roast the eggplants over a gas stove. Once the skins are completely blackened in addition to the flesh has collapsed into softness, piece them opened upward in addition to scoop the soft innards out into a colander. Leave them to drain for 15 minutes, in addition to and therefore sprinkle them a heaps of common salt in addition to pepper in addition to one-half a teaspoon of the vinegar.

While you're roasting the eggplants, larn the lentils sorted. Put them inwards a saucepan alongside plenty of water, addition 1 of the carrots in addition to one-half of a celery stick (both cutting into big chunks) along alongside the bay leaf, thyme in addition to onion. Bring it to the boil in addition to simmer on depression estrus for most 25 minutes, until the lentils are cooked.

Drain the lentils in addition to take the veggie chunks in addition to herbs. In a mixing bowl, combine the drained lentils in addition to the balance of the vinegar, two tablespoons of olive crude oil in addition to plenty of common salt in addition to pepper.

Cut the leftover carrot in addition to celery into 1cm cubes in addition to combine alongside the tomatoes, a tablespoon of olive oil, saccharide in addition to salt. Cook inwards the oven for most xx minutes (if you lot fourth dimension this right, you lot tin dismiss get got the veggies cooking patch you lot simmer the lentils).

Add the cooked veggies, in addition to the coriander, parsley in addition to dill to the lentils in addition to stir together. 

Serve past times edifice a piffling pile of the lentil/veggie mix on a plate, topping it alongside a generous few blobs of the eggplant in addition to and therefore dolloping a few tablespoons of yoghurt in addition to a drizzle of olive crude oil on top.