Eggplants are loving this dry and hot weather and Garden Guru Phil Dudman’s garden is full of eggplant. So of course for Good Gardening show on ABC North Coast radio this morning eggplant was the hero. As our summer has been so hot and steamy I wanted to make a no fuss simple but of course delicious dish. This can be served as finger food, part of a mezze platter or as entree. Enjoy!
Serves 6 as an entree2 medium eggplants
100mls extra virgin olive oil
100gms ricotta cheese
100gms Greek style feta cheese
1 tablespoon chives, finely chopped
1 lemon, zest and juice
salt flakes
freshly ground black pepper
100gms baby spinach leaves
red wine vinegar, to serve
To make the eggplant wraps, cut the eggplants lengthwise into slices about 5mm thick. You should get about 6 slices from each eggplant. Brush the eggplant slices on both sides, lightly, with oil and grill them in batches on a barbecue or grill-pan for 3–4 minutes on each side until browned, tender and softened. Set them aside.
In a small bowl, mash the cheeses with a fork and add the chives, zest of lemon and season with salt and pepper. Spoon a heaped teaspoon of filling on to the wide end of each eggplant slice and roll it up. To serve, arrange the baby spinach leaves on a platter, place the eggplant wraps on top, seam-side down, splash with red wine vinegar then season. Serve at room temperature with the smokey baba ganoush (recipe below) as an entree or part of a mezze.
Smokey baba ganoush
1 large eggplant
2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
1 tablespoon tahini
2-3 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, to taste
1 teaspoon ground cumin
pinch of cayenne pepper
salt flakes
freshly ground black pepper
To make the baba ganoush, place the whole eggplant directly on top of gas flame or on barbecue grill (see tip) allow the skin to blister and char, turning with tongs until entire surface is blackened and eggplant is completely soft, about 10 to 12 minutes. Set aside until cool enough to handle. Carefully peel away flesh discarding burnt skin. Do not rinse eggplant flesh — a few bits of remaining char is fine. Place eggplant flesh into a food processor along with garlic, tahini, lemon juice, cumin and cayenne pepper blitz to obtain a creamy purée. Season then taste and adjust salt and lemon juice if necessary. Transfer mixture to a shallow serving bowl.
Tip: if you don’t have a gas flame or BBQ you can roast the eggplant in a preheated 200C fan forced oven. Place on a baking tray and roast for 45 minutes turning the eggplant a few times until softened and all skin is blackened.
