eggplant with Black Garlic by Ottolenghi

Ottolenghi really is the King of black garlic- we’ve learned a lot from his experiments and recipes. This one is a firm favourite from his Plenty More cookbook.

by Yotam Ottolenghi shared on Home & Property Co UK

SERVES FOUR
Ingredients
-3 medium aubergines (eggplants), sliced widthways into 1.5cm rounds (900g)
-200ml olive oil
-8 large or 16 small black garlic cloves 
-200g Greek yoghurt
-1½ tsp lemon juice
-7 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced 
-3 red chillies, sliced on the diagonal into 3mm rounds
-5g dill leaves
-5g basil leaves
-5g tarragon leaves
-salt and black pepper

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 250ºC/230ºC Fan/Gas Mark 9 (or to its highest setting).

2. Place the eggplant rounds in a large bowl with 60ml of the olive oil, ½ teaspoon of salt and a good grind of black pepper. Mix well and spread out on 2 large baking trays lined with greaseproof paper. Roast in the oven until golden-brown and completely soft – about 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool.

3. Place the black garlic cloves in the small bowl of a food processor with 1/3 teaspoon of salt, 2 tablespoons of oil, 2 tablespoons of yoghurt and the lemon juice. Blitz for a minute, to form a rough paste, and then transfer to a medium bowl.

4. Mix through the rest of the yoghurt and keep in the fridge until needed.

5. Heat the remaining 110ml of oil in a small saucepan on a high heat. Add the garlic and chilli slices, reduce the heat to medium and fry for about 5 minutes, stirring from time to time, until the garlic is golden-brown and the chilli is crispy. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the garlic and chilli on to a kitchen paper-lined plate.

6. Arrange the eggplant slices, overlapping, on a platter. Spoon the yoghurt sauce on top, sprinkle over the chilli and garlic and finish with the herbs.