FAMigiana

Sorry about the punny title: this is my take on a classic Italian recipe called parmigiana, an oven dish with layered aubergines. (Yes, I am rather partial to aubergines, and they are the only vegetables that I feel have to be cooked – in a rich sauce – until they are totally mushy.) Unlike the traditional version, which at least in some recipes adds a layer of béchamel sauce, and also, in at least one instance a thin layer of ham, this one is really just vegetables and one can even leave out the grated cheese on top if this needs to be vegan.

What you need

·       4 medium-sized aubergines cut into thin slices

·       seasalt for rubbing the aubergines

·       1 tblsp tandoori masala (more if you like a hot dish)

·       2 good-sized onions, finely chopped

·       2 – 5 cloves of garlic in thin slices

·       1 tblsp cinnamon powder

·       2 veggie stock cubes, crumbled

·       150 ml red wine or Marsala

·       500 ml of passata or chopped tomatoes

·       2 tblsp honey

·       2 tblsp vine vinegar

·       olive oil for frying

·       generous grated cheese (I like pecorino romano possibly with the same amount of parmesan added)

What you do

1.     Cut the aubergines length-wise into thin slices, salt the cut generously with sea salt and leave to sit for 60 minutes. In the meantime prepare the sauce:

2.     Sauté the onions and the garlic, add the tandoori and keep stirring until the onions are soft, add the stock cubes and cinnamon, then the wine or Marsala.

3.     Stir in the passata, add the vinegar and the honey. Leave to simmer on a small flame. Make sure the mixture is not salty.

4.     Rinse the aubergines well and pat them dry, then fry them in olive oil in single layers until they are golden brown. Some say one should remove olive oil after the frying but I think that would be waste of good olive oil.

5.     Place the aubergines and the sauce in layers in an ovenproof dish. At the end you may want to deglaze the frying pan with a bit of wine, which can be added to the liquid

6.     Cover generously with the grated cheese and bake at 175° for at least 30 minutes or until crispy brown on top, then reduce the heat to 120° (perhaps cover with silver foil) for another 10 to 15 minutes.

You can serve this with fresh bread or as I did, with some cooked buckwheat. (Per person 60 gr of whole buckwheat, 100 ml vegetable stock, brought to the boil and then left to steep for 15 minutes beside the stove or on a tiny flame). Alternatives would be pasta, risotto or tabbouleh.

Imam Bayialdi

I had this in a Turkish restaurant in Bielefeld for the first time – and I think it was the idea behind the name of the dish, “the Imam fainted” that attracted me to it. It is a lovely way of doing aubergines, it tastes great hot, but also as a cold dish. Oh, and the story where the name comes from is a little confusing, whether it is the taste or the woman who served it that caused the swooning or whether, if you leave the ends on the aubergines it looks like a recumbent imam with the end being the hat, explanations abound.

What you need

• 3 medium-sized aubergines
• seasalt for rubbing the aubergines
• 2 good-sized onions
• 2 – 5 cloves of garlic, a matter of taste, methinks
• olive oil
• 0.3 litres of tomato passata (or more), or the equivalent in fresh tomatoes, deseeded (possibly skinned) and finely chopped
• 1 handful of raisins (not pictured, sorry)
• 1 tsp of “mixed spice” (includes cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg)
• 1 small piece of cinnamon stick
• 1 large tblsp of honey
• oregano (or better Greek rigani) to taste
• 1 lemon (only the juice)
• salt and pepper to taste

What you do

1. Trim the stalks if the aubergines and cut them in half length-wise (there are many different suggestions for other ways of cutting them, by the way), salt the cut generously with sea salt and leave to sit for 30 minutes. This may get rid of the bitterness that some people don’t like in aubergines.
2. In the meantime, quarter the onions and slice them finely, crush the garlic and sauté both in a generous amount of olive oil, stirring without letting it brown.
3. When the onions are limp, add the tomato passata, the spices and the raisins and keep stirring. Add water (or white wine, which I like, but it isn’t traditional!) and simmer gently for the remainder of the 30 minutes.
4. Rinse off the excess salt from the aubergine halves and hollow them out shallowly. Chop the trimmed aubergine flesh and add to the onion mixture. (Preheat the oven to 175 to 200°)
5. In olive oil fry first the flesh and then the skin side of the aubergines till the inside is browned and the skin has gone a bit wrinkly. Wisdom has it that they should then be dried with kitchen paper, but I like their olive oily succulence.
6. Place them in an ovenproof dish.
7. Now add the honey and the lemon juice to the onion mix and make sure it is relatively liquid.
8. Pour it into the hollows of the aubergines and between the gaps, then place the dish in the oven and simmer for as long as you have patience, 20 minutes at least.

Tastes great with some saffron rice.  

Mushroom Stew, Stifatho inspired

This is not exactly a fast dish, but one well worth the effort. I found a number of Greek stifatho recipes that use meat, beef, rabbit, hare, etc, but the suggestions to use mushrooms came from a cookery book with Middle Eastern vegetarian dishes although that version was not quite as daring on the spices front, leaving them out except for salt and pepper and substituting sugar for honey. In some recipes there is also the suggestion to use orange zest (to be removed before serving). Sadly, I didn’t have any oranges, but my sense of imagined taste tells me that it would seem well worth the effort. Like all stews it tastes just as good or even better warmed up, so it is a good bet for guests as you can do it in advance.   

What you need

• 500 gr mushrooms of various kinds (I used button mushrooms and chanterelles) cut into mouth-sized pieces (smaller if mouth sizes are big…)
• 500 gr shallots or small onions peeled
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 5-8 cloves of garlic
• 5-7 cm cinnamon stick
• 6 tbsp good vinegar
• 150 ml red wine (we didn’t because of our Afghan guest and friend)
• 1-2 tsp coriander powder
• 1-2 tsp cumin powder
• 5 cloves or a 1 tsp of clove powder
• 400 g diced tomatoes, passata or tinned (not pictured)
• 1-2 good tbsp. tomato purée
• 1 medium tbsp honey
• dried oregano
• salt and pepper to taste

What you do

1. Fry the mushrooms in olive oil till they take colour, season with part of the garlic crushed, salt and pepper.
2. Add the pepper and continue to sauté until the desired level of tenderness in the pepper is reached. Put aside for adding to the stew later unless you don’t mind limp mushrooms and pepper.
3. Sauté the shallots/onions in generous olive oil until they begin to brown, then add the remaining cloves of garlic, whole or halfed.(about 10 mins).
4. Add the spices and stir until they begin to brown as well. (Sorry about the picture quality)
   At this point you can stir in the mushrooms and the pepper. (alternatively see last point)
5. Pour in the vinegar and wine, if using, otherwise add a little water and the honey.
6. Add the tomato and the tomato paste, the oregano and the honey and leave to simmer for as long "as you can" (an hour is actually a good start) The mixture should just about cover the bits already in the pan.
7. Mix in the mushrooms and peppers about 5 minutes before serving (unless you go for the option of adding them to the onions) and leave to simmer until everything is heated through.

 

I serve this with roast rosemary potatoes, potatoes cut into wedges, roasting in a baking tin with plenty of olive oil and some sprigs of rosemary, seasoned with sea salt and more crushed garlic, turned occasionally. Easy and really rather tasty.