Aubergine

166million

I don't like aubergine so I'd grate it into a chilli.

lisa110rry

That sounds good (parmagiana), BBC Food or elsewhere for the recipe, please?

rosie383

There are loads of recipes out there. Just had quick google and it can be as easy or hard as you want. I did a bolognaise type sauce and layered with fried aubergine slices, also a layer of breadcrumbs mixed with parmesan in between and on top. Chuck in the oven til bubbling. My DD 'forgot' to take it out of the oven yesterday so it had dried out more than it should have. Best one ever though!

You can just do a tomatoey sauce rather than a bolog one.

Evil_Olive

An ancient Italian relative told me that before you could use aubergine, you had to slice it into 1/2 inch slices, scatter with salt on both sides and let it sit for a bit to 'draw out the bitter juices' before rinsing and using it. I've tried it with and without doing this and it does taste better, and has a better texture, if you do. Anyone else ever heard of this?

My favourite cheap (and easy-peasy) aubergine recipe is this one that she taught me (and I MSE-ified ).....

Pre-heat oven to 200C

Roll out half a 500g block of jusrol puff pastry quite thinly, into a big rectangle or square (around 12"x12").
Brush with egg or milk and fold over 1/2" on all sides to make an edge/rim (dent it all around with the back of a knife blade to secure).
Grate a scattering of mature value cheese all over and put in the oven for 15 mins.

Meanwhile chop 1 aubergine into chunks along with 1 medium onion, 1 largish courgette and 1 red/orange/yellow pepper.
Stirfry in olive oil with some dried herbs (oregano and basil works well) and salt/pepper until about half cooked.

Get cheesy pastry 'tray' out of oven and pile veg onto it, spreading out into corners.
Cut a couple of slices of sandwich ham (the cheap re-formed stuff is fine - smoked is nice) into thin strips and scatter over the top along with another scattering of grated cheese. Bung back in oven for 20 mins.

Does 4 large portions. I serve it with home-made coleslaw and potato salad - it's yummy.

JIL

lisa110rry wrote: »

That sounds good (parmagiana), BBC Food or elsewhere for the recipe, please?

i use a really simple recipe, i do make it often most recipes say to fry the sliced aubergine in olive oil but they do soak up a lot of oil.
i just grill mine or put the slices in the George forman. You can brush them with oil first but i dont think its necessary.

you just need 2 aubergines, sliced to about a cm, lengthways or width its up to you. these need to be grilled or fried as above.
then a tub or jar or home made tomato and basil sauce , a ball of mozzarella, torn into bits, a few basil leaves if you have them and a bit of grated parmesan for the top.

then you just layer, so a layer of aubergine, tomato sauce, some torn mozzarella, a few basil leaves, then repeat. with the top layer sprinkle over the parmesan and then bake for about 40 mins or longer.
Its really tasty and you need some crusty bread to eat it with.

heres gino dacampos

http://shows.stv.tv/this-morning/food/312281-gino-dacampos-meat-free-mondays-aubergine-parmigiana-bake/

JIL

a few years ago when out for dinner i asked for the vegetarian option.

it was a whole aubergine that had slits cut across it, in the slits was a slice of stilton and then baked. No sauce.

mashedavocado

Evil_Olive wrote: »

An ancient Italian relative told me that before you could use aubergine, you had to slice it into 1/2 inch slices, scatter with salt on both sides and let it sit for a bit to 'draw out the bitter juices' before rinsing and using it. I've tried it with and without doing this and it does taste better, and has a better texture, if you do. Anyone else ever heard of this?

I've heard this, but I also heard that modern aubergines are grown in a way that means they're less bitter than they used to be anyway. I've done it a couple of times, and it does make it a little softer texture-wise, but I've never noticed a major difference.

zippychick

ive merged this with our existing aubergine thread

Zip