17th April, 2020
Aubergine Recipe
Aubergine with Garlic Greek Yogurt Sauce
I love aubergines and this is one of my favourite recipes, not only does it look beautiful but it is really yummy too.
A whole meal in itself and the ingredients are readily available within our large vegetable boxes and your own store cupboard.
Ingredients:
2 large aubergines
80ml Olive Oil (I use Chiltern Rapeseed Oil available from our on-line shop)
1 Pomegranate
1 tsp of a mix of Oregano, Thyme, Salt, toasted sesame seeds and Marjoram
(I use what I have available last week it was only Oregano, salt and the smallest pinch of thyme as we get more used to adapting recipes to suit what we have on-hand)
For the sauce:
100g of Greek style yogurt (our online shop has local Greek style yogurt from Harefield)
Dash of milk
1 ½ tbsp of Olive Oil (Or Chiltern Rapeseed Oil)
1 small garlic clove crushed
Pinch of salt
Method:
Preheat the oven to 200°C/Gas Mark 6.
Cut the aubergines in half lengthways, cutting straight through the green stalk (the stalk is for the look, don’t eat it).
Use a small sharp knife to make three or four parallel incisions in the cut side of each aubergine half, without cutting through to the skin. Repeat at a 45-degree angle to get a diamond-shape pattern.
Place the aubergine halves, cut-side up, on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment. Brush them with the olive oil – keep on brushing until all of the oil has been absorbed by the flesh. Sprinkle with your herb mix and some salt and pepper.
Roast for 35–40 minutes, at which point the flesh should be soft, flavoursome and nicely browned. Remove from the oven and allow to cool down completely.
While the aubergines are in the oven, prepare the pomegranate and sauce. Cut the pomegranate into two horizontally. Hold one half over a bowl, with the cut side against your palm, and use the back of a wooden spoon or a rolling pin to gently knock on the pomegranate skin. Continue beating with increasing power until the seeds start coming out naturally and falling through your fingers into the bowl. Once all are there, sift through the seeds to remove any bits of white skin or membrane.
For the sauce, just whisk together all of the ingredients. Taste for seasoning, then keep cold until needed.
To serve, spoon plenty of the sauce over the aubergine halves without covering the stalks. Pop plenty of pomegranate seeds on top and garnish with lemon thyme (don’t worry if you don’t have any). Finish with a drizzle of olive oil.
Enjoy!
