People say aubergines are bland or tasteless, well certainly they do have a very delicate and subtle flavour, but there is a sort of ‘meaty’ yumminess to them which really adds something to whatever dish they are in, whether it’s a snack or a starter or a lunch or dinner dish, I just think they are so adaptable to different recipes!
This is a really delicious recipe, combining aubergines with another of my favourites, chick peas:
Ingredients
- 1 aubergine sliced into ½inch pieces
- 1,2 or even 3 cloves of garlic cloves, chopped into tiny pieces
- olive oil
- 8 ounces of chickpeas, soaked overnight and then cooked until soft – or 1 tin of chickpeas, drained
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1-2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
- Put the slices of aubergine onto a baking tray greased with olive oil, scatter the garlic on top and about 3 tbsp of olive oil
- Bake in an oven set to 200ºC, 400ºF,Gas mark 6 for about 15 -20 mins
- Add another 3 tbsp of olive oil to a pan, with the chickpeas over a lowish heat until they are warm
- If the aubergine is soften and looks nice and golden brown take it out of the oven, or give it another five minutes or so
- Take about half of the chickpeas and half of the aubergines and put them in a blender with a pinch of salt and a good few grinds of pepper, then whizz them until they are as smooth as you want – I like them a little bit lumpy, you might like them really smooth
- Put the whizzed chickpeas and aubergine into the remaining chickpeas and add the rest of the aubergine slices. Stir in the pomegranate molasses very careful so you don’t break up the slices of aubergine and just bring them back up to temperature. Check the seasoning, you might want to add a little more salt.
This is great served hot with pitta bread or crusty bread and some salad on the side
Lois Elsden 
I Love grilling Aubergines whole (not too high or they explode!) It gives a lovely early Grey tea aroma when you slice them open, delicious scooped out into a warm salad with tomatoes (they’re supposed to be blanched in boiling water and skinned but I just roast them for 5 minutes and leave them on :p) red pepper (also roasted until blackened) and with a squeeze of lemon, parsley, black pepper, Sumac and a fresh chilli is you like it spicy – delicious! 🙂
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I loved the image of the exploding aubergines… but oh what a mess to clear up afterwards! You’re making me hungry now with your description – sumac is such a great idea too!
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*Earl Grey Tea – Not sure what Early grey is!
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Early Gray is when it’s the first drink of the day!!!
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