Aubergine slippers with coriander yogurt and black sesame crumb

A roast aubergine is about as meaty and satisfying as a vegetable can get, sweetly caramelised about the edges with rich yielding flesh. Paired with a creamy, fragrant dressing and toasty sesame crumbs it could easily be a main course with a simple salad on the side – double the quantities if you do this. If you have a sensitive gut, marinating garlic in oil allows you to enjoy the flavour without the consequences. Garlic is an important prebiotic however, so as your digestion improves, try making a paste with the garlic and adding this to the aubergine, increasing the amount as you tolerate more.

~ Naomi Devlin

OVERVIEW

Serves: 4

INGREDIENTS:

6 cloves garlic
150ml olive oil
2 large aubergines
sea salt
30g coriander leaves
125g live yoghurt
1 lemon
A half quantity of black sesame crumb

METHOD:

Take the papery skins off the garlic, slice thinly and pop into a lidded jar with the olive oil. Leave to macerate for at least an hour, but ideally 6-8 hours before straining out the garlic through a small sieve. Refrigerate the oil if not using within the next 24 hours and use within a week.

Preheat the oven to 195ºC or 175ºC fan. Slice each aubergine in half lengthways, through the stalk and score the flesh into diamonds with a knife, taking care not to puncture the skin. Place cut side up on a baking tray and drizzle the garlic oil evenly over the aubergine flesh. Sprinkle with a little sea salt. Roast for 45-60 minutes, until the flesh is soft and deeply golden on top.

While the aubergines roast, make the coriander yogurt. Put the coriander leaves, yogurt and a good squeeze of lemon juice into a blender and whizz until the sauce is a pale green colour. Taste for lemon, pour into a little bowl and set aside.

To serve, give everyone an aubergine slipper and allow them to help themselves to yogurt and sesame crumb.

Black Sesame Crumb

INGREDIENTS:

200g sourdough bread without crusts
4 tsp duck fat, chicken fat, bacon fat or olive oil
50g black sesame seeds
2-3 tsp nigella seeds (optional)
a couple of pinches of sea salt

METHOD:

Toast the sesame and nigella seeds in a dry frying pan over a medium heat for a few minutes, shaking constantly, until they start to pop and smell nutty. Pour into a pestle and mortar, allow to cool a little and then grind coarsely.

Chop the bread into very small pieces, none larger than your little fingernail. Heat the fat in a frying pan and fry the breadcrumbs over a medium heat, stirring often, until they are golden tinged and smell wonderful. Stir in the ground sesame & nigella seeds, season with salt and black pepper if you like and sprinkle over your supper.

RECIPE CREDIT

Flora Montgomery6 November 2017