This is such a versatile, low effort dish (5 mins prep time, 15 mins max of active cooking and the rest happens in the oven). It needs no weighing or measuring and can easily be customised to suit your tastes and use up leftovers or bits from your pantry/store cupboard. It’s a great one to prepare in advance too and doesn't use many ingredients at all. I tend to make it as a vegetarian dish but vegan and meat variations are simple to do and I have given some options below. If you make one of the simple veggie or vegan versions - this is also delicious cold (room temperature). If you have some leftover the next day. and you really fancy mixing it up a bit… literally… just add it to a blender and whizz it up and you will have a delicious aubergine/hummusy dip in moments. Trust me. It’s really good. I have also give some suggestions separately below so that you can adapt the dish in homage to the types of flavours of certain countries … so that you can “holiday” via your plate... something I am enjoying a great deal while we are so restricted with travel.
Ingredients:
Vegetarian version:
Aubergine / Eggplant - half to one aubergine per person (depending on what you are serving it with and the appetite of whoever is eating it).
Cooked chickpeas (or any bean/legume you like. I used canned ones — about half a tin per whole aubergine. Lentils also work really well.) Leave them out entirely if watching your carbs.
Chopped Onions and diced garlic - half an onion per whole aubergine… garlic to taste.
Chilli (optional) - dried flakes or finely chopped fresh.
Feta cheese - (or goat cheese, mozzarella or cheddar… whatever you like and have). I like using feta as the saltiness helps with the overall seasoning.
A dressing - extra virgin olive oil, fresh lemon juice, any fresh green herbs you like (I used wild garlic and basil), I also added a little chopped tomato and a little raw garlic (optional) and then seasoned with a little salt. (Ratio 3:1 oil/lemon juice. Make a little extra to use as a dressing for salads, fish, meat or roasted veggies).
Season to taste.
Vegan version:
replace the cheese with a vegan cheese alternative and/or roasted pine nuts or roasted walnuts.
You can also add a drizzle of tahini (add a little lemon juice, crushed garlic and salt to the tahini first to make a little dressing for it).
Meat version:
when you fry the onions and garlic - add pre-fried (with the fat drained off) beef, lamb or pork mince… and then leave out the cheese and/or chickpeas/legumes (as otherwise it can feel a bit heavy)
If you have a leftover pasta meat sauce… it would be perfect in this.
Method:
Turn on the oven to around 180 degrees (350/gas mark 4)
Cut each aubergine in half lengthways.
Hollow out each half leaving at least a cm/half inch thickness of the aubergine ‘shell/case” in tact so that when you fill it later, it won’t collapse under the weight. (You can either scoop out the inside of the aubergine with a small spoon or score it with a sharp knife into a diamond pattern to make it easier to scoop out.) Roughly chop up the aubergine flesh that you have scooped out.
Rub each aubergine “shell” with a little (olive/veg) oil and season with a little salt… pop them onto a baking tray/dish and into the pre-heated oven for around 15 mins. *Common sense alert* - because these are hollowed out, they won’t take too long to cook, keep an eye on them after 10 mins to check they don’t burn. You’ll know they are cooked if a knife can pierce through the thickest part of the shell easily. Once cooked, don’t leave them in the oven (even if you turn it off) as they will dry out quickly.
While they are in the oven, put a drizzle of (olive/veg) oil into a pan and then gently fry your onions (add the chilli if using). I prefer to add my garlic a little later as I find it can burn quickly otherwise as the aubergine can take a while to cook through. (If using meat, pre-fry/brown your meat before this, drain off the fat , leaving a little behind in the pan and use that remaining fat to cook your onion and garlic until lightly golden before adding the meat back in and letting it mingle with all that oniony/garlicky goodness.
Once your onions are softened and a light golden brown, add in the chopped raw aubergine from your earlier scooping and let it cook through. Aubergine loves to stick to the pan, so make sure you stir it regularly to keep it from getting too attached (literally) to where it is. It also loves sucking up oil — don’t be tempted to add more oil to the pan as it can make for a really greasy dish. Just keep it moving and you can occasionally add a couple of teaspoons of water into the pan if you feel it needs a little more moisture.
Once the aubergine has begun to softened, add in your garlic and cook it all until the aubergine is really cooked through (doesn’t matter if it cooks to mush but it’s nice to try and get it just before that point).
Then add your chickpeas (or whatever else you have decided to use), into the pan and mix everything together and cook for a couple more minutes just to let the flavours all mingle. Taste it and then season to taste. Now you can fill your aubergine shells with the mixture.
Once you have filled your aubergine cases up with all the yumminess, you can actually leave them at this point for a good few hours/even overnight and then top them with your cheese and just pop them back into a pre-heated oven (keep it at 180 degrees) for around 15-20 mins until it is all piping hot. (If using feta or goats cheese, you can add it before the shells go into the oven… but I actually like to add them after it has all come out of the oven as I like the cool, creamy contrast.)
Top with whatever nuts/cheese/fresh herbs you like… drizzle with some of the dressing…. Serve with a fresh, crunchy green salad and/or a lovely fresh, tomato salad (use the dressing you already have for either of them) and/or chunk of warm, crusty bread.
Travel a little:
“Morocco” - add cumin and a dash of cinnamon to the onions while cooking and then follow the steps of the main recipe. For the dressing use fresh parsley, mint and a little coriander and a drizzle of tahini…scatter with crumbled feta, some pomegranate seeds, and toasted walnuts.
“India”- add cumin, chillis, garam masala, fresh ginger and more garlic to the onions while frying and then add in the aubergine and follow the steps above. Instead of using plain, canned chickpeas, used leftover Indian style chickpeas or Indian style lentils. Don’t add any cheese but make your dressing with plain, natural yoghurt mixed with very finely chopped red onion, tomato, fresh coriander leaves (chopped) , a good pinch of roasted, ground cumin and seasoned with salt.
“Italy” - follow the main recipe above but add a generous tablespoon of pesto to the aubgerine mix while cooking it in the pan. Instead of using feta, once it has all come out of the oven, grate some salted ricotta (ricotta salata) onto the top. For the dressing use fresh basil and just before serving add some freshly grated lemon zest to give it some zing.
So yummy! Tried all versions. Amazing how a change of spices transports you to other places. Yum!