We've been away traveling for a while, hence the silence on the Blog front. I did use my newly acquired Blog design experience to create a travel blog tied to Instagram, and learnt some lessons I will try to apply to this site, soon enough.
And now with the onset of the hot weather, I imagine there'll be less cooking over a hot stove than in the cooler months, but I still want to get back into trying out new things and I have a bunch of dishes in the "draft" folder I just need to find the time to finish!
Easing back into it I found this amazing and simple recipe adapted from Yottam Ottolenghi's Burnt aubergine with feta and harissa oil
Ingredients
1 Tbspl olive oil 2 aubergines/eggplants Maldon sea salt
30ml Olive Oil
30g rose harissa or plain red harissa
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp maple syrup
130g feta
50ml whole milk
20g pine nuts, toasted
1 tbsp picked dill
Method
Rub a tablespoon of olive oil all over the eggplants. Char the eggplant on a gas grill, charcoal BBQ or stove top pan/griddle over high heat, turning occasionally, for about 20 minutes until soft throughout and blackened all over. Transfer to a rack set over a tray, sprinkle with some Maldon salt and leave to drain and cool.
Once the eggplants are cool enough to handle, carefully peel them, discarding the burned skins but keeping the stems attached and taking care not to break up the flesh too much. Using a small knife, cut each eggplant from top to bottom, but keeping it intact at both ends and making sure not to cut all the way through, then gently open up the eggplants.
In a medium bowl, mix the harissa with 30ml olive oil, the lemon juice and maple syrup, and set aside.
With a fork, mash the feta with the milk in a small bowl until reasonably smooth, and set aside.
To serve, spread the feta onto a large plate, baste the eggplants in the harissa oil, then lay them side by side on top of the feta. Spoon some or all of the remaining harissa oil on top of the eggplants, letting the oil run over the feta and out towards the edges of the plate.
Sprinkle over the toasted pine nuts and dill.