Ottolenghi’s Aubergine with Black Garlic

A huge Ottolenghi fan, I LOVE all his recipes. They’re very produce focussed and he’s all about letting the ingredients shine in a dish. There’s never too much fuss and there’s always bags of flavour. And this is exactly how I like to cook, myself. Here is one of my favourite Ottolenghi recipes that I’ve tweaked very slightly in terms of the method and toppings. I find cooking the aubergine over a gas quicker than the oven and this way of cooking also calls for less oil. I added some hazelnuts for crunch and changed up the herbs a bit with whatever I had lying around in my refrigerator.

I hope you enjoy recreating this dish as much as I did. Feel inspired to further tweak the recipe to suit your cooking style and palette! 🙂

What you need:

1 medium aubergine – sliced to a medium thickness

1 tbsp avocado oil

Salt – to taste

For the black garlic sauce:

6-8 small black garlic cloves

75 gms Greek yogurt 

1 tsp lemon juice 

1 tsp coconut vinegar

Salt – to taste

For the toppings:

1 tbsp fried garlic

1 red chilli – sliced thin

1 tsp dried red chilli flakes

1 handful of fresh basil – shredded

1 handful of green onions – finely chopped

1 tbsp hazelnuts – toasted and halved

How to: 

Bring a non-stick pan up to heat. Brush some avocado oil on the aubergine slices and lay them flat on the pan and cook on a medium high heat until golden brown.

After one side is cooked, brush the other side with some more avocado oil and cook on the reverse, again until golden brown.

Sprinkle with some good quality fine sea salt once cooked thorough and keep aside.

Crush the black garlic and seasonings with a tablespoon of the Greek yogurt in a small blender until smooth.

Empty the contents of the blender in a small mixing bowl and combine with the rest of the Greek yogurt.

Leave it the refrigerator to cool and for the flavours to develop.

Once ready to serve, lay out the eggplant slices in a plate and spoon little bits of the black garlic yogurt over the eggplant.

Top generously with the prepared herbs, nuts and seasonings.

Remember to share it with someone you love.

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