When my little sister was a child, we asked her about the things she disliked most in the world and she scrounged up her face and thought long and hard. Then she ventured: “War and eggplant”.
Luckily, she’s reconsidered as she’s grown older (about eggplant I mean, not about war). I say luckily, because eggplant is a favourite of mine. It’s one of the most beautiful fruits or vegetables produced by nature, it’s cheap, versatile – and they always have it at my local store. The latter is not the least important factor when deciding what to have for dinner.
My favourite way of cooking eggplant is to grill it and then chop it – like you do in a Greek melitsanosalata or a baba ganouj. This produces a rich and creamy sauce that can be used on pasta, with bread or as dipping sauce for virtually anything.
Of course, once you take it out of the oven it’s not so pretty anymore…
In this case, I made a variety that is meant to be served with spaghetti, but it would make a good side dish with grilled meat too, if that’s your fancy. The good thing about this dish is that it’s excellent to make in advance. In fact, it’s designed to be made in advance and just heated in time for dinner.
You’ll need:
1 middle-sized eggplant
5 cherry tomatoes or 1 regular (if you use the regular, remove the seeds before using it)
3 tbsp crème fraiche (yes, low fat is OK)
1 clove of garlic (chopped)
15 green olives stuffed with lemon
1 tsp forest spice blend
1/2 tsp dried chili flakes
a handful of roaste pine nuts (optional)
- Heat the oven to about 220 °C ( 425 °F).
- Clean the eggplant and cut away the top. Prick it with a fork a few times.
- Let it roast for 30 – 40 minutes, until it’s soft (like in the picture above).
- Let it cool.
- Put it in a food processor along with the spices, the olives, the tomatoes and the crème fraiche and blend it until almost smooth (there should still little ‘chewiness’ to it).
- Put it in the refrigerator and just heat it in the microwave before serving it with pasta.
- A few roasted pine nuts sprinkled on top of the dish will make it perfect!
peas, loaves and understanding 
Så tomaterna ska vara råa?
Hmmmm låter gott. Men man måste nog laga i förväg som du säger. 40 min i ungn när man håller på att svimma efter jobbet funkar inte.
Eller så kan man laga idag som är lördag!
Allt ska vara rått utom uberginen. Fast man kan nog fräsa vitlöken lite om man tycker det blir fränt annars.
Har provat nästan detta recept. Hade glömt bort vad gott eggplant är. Har gjort extra som jag ska ta med till jobbet imorgon. Käns så lyxigt att ta med god lunch. Är så himla less på Pret eller E.A.T smörgåsar. Blä!