Aubergine (Eggplant) & Goat’s Cheese Bake
My sister-in-law and her fiance kindly offered my husband and I a night out for an early Valentine’s Day dinner last month. I love love love properly done, fresh Mexican food and had spotted a new Mexican restaurant in our city that looked different from the usual dodgy-looking restaurants up in a dark flight of stairs or a predictable chain restaurant. Sadly, it seems that everybody else where we live also noticed it, and they did not take reservations. The queue was going out the door and there was a long wait…
So we decided to wander and try to find somewhere else, and, just two doors down from the restaurant we’d intended to go to, we found a little Mexican & Spanish restaurant that was comparatively empty but had a great-looking menus and yummy smells coming from it.
The Mexican food they were bringing out as we perused the menu looked ok, but the tapas they were serving looked incredible, so we decided to steer in that direction. We picked a gorgeously garlicky prawn dish, some Manchego cheese (because we love this stuff!), a chorizo tapas that was unbelievably smoky and flavoursome, and an aubergine and goat’s cheese dish. We fancied a veggie option and it sounded quite nice. But wow, that aubergine & tomato stole the show! It was soft and smoky and beautifully rich. It was melt-in-your-mouth delicious and tasted somewhere between a smoky ratatouille and a parmigiana dish with a delightfully different kick from the goat’s cheese.
I quickly regretted leaving that restaurant without asking for the recipe. So I decided to play around and try to recreate it myself.
It was hard to get the balance of flavours just right, but here is my tribute to a truly lovely tapas dish, made into a filling vegetarian meal.
A delicious, smoky, filling vegetarian dish that can be served as a main for 4 or a side dish for 8. Healthy and yummy, this dish contains minimal ingredients and little effort.
- 2 large aubergines (eggplant), diced or thinly sliced
- 1 white onion, finely chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 tbsp coconut oil or olive oil
- 500 g passata
- 1 tsp dried mixed herbs or 1/2 tsp each dried oregano and basil
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 100 g goat's cheese (ideally a rind one like a "chevre")
- 3 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
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Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas 6.
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Lay the aubergine, onion and garlic in a large roasting dish and drizzle with the oil. Roast in the oven for 1 hour, or until the vegetables are soft and caramelised.
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Stir the herbs and smoked paprika into the passata and pour over the roasted veg, mix well, then return to the oven to bake for another 15-20 mins, until the sauce is bubbling.
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Crumble the goat's cheese over the bake and either return to the oven or place under the grill (broiler) for 5 mins, until melted and starting to brown. Sprinkle with the parsley and serve hot, alongside some toasted bread & fresh salad, or some steamed greens or broccoli if you wish.
That looks yummy, Claire! Pinning it to try later!