Aubergine stew
Aubergines are my absolute favourite vegetable when cooking vegetarian dishes. They are very versatile, have a nice bite and can handle seasoning very well. This stew has aubergine as the base with lots of different spices, but includes some more fruits and vegetables I love.
Like my little sin: avocado. But at least they are produced on an organic farm in Spain so with a lot less food kilometres to them than the once you normally buy in the supermarket. Needless to say that the pomegranates are from Spain as well.
Aubergine and beans stew with couscous, avocado salad and creme fraiche
Ingredients ~ main for 4
2 aubergines (or 1 big one)
2 tbsp cold pressed olive oil
2 onions
3 garlic cloves
1 large chunk ginger
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground cardamon
1 tsp ground lemon grass
½ tsp ground sweet pepper
1 tsp sea salt
3 tbsp tomato paste
600 ml vegetable fond
400 gr peeled tomatoes from the tin
400 gr flageolet beans from the tin
50 gr yellow raisins
50 gr dark raisins
1 lemon, zest (the juice is used for the salad)
for the couscous:
200 gr couscous
¼ tsp salt
500 ml boiling water
for the avocado salad:
2 avocado
1 big handful parsley leaves
1 big handful mint leaves
1 tbsp coriander leaves
1 tbsp chervil leaves
1 tsp fennel greens
1 tsp dill greens
2 tbsp cold-pressed extra virgin olive oil
to serve:
75 gr roasted nuts
125 gr pomegranate seeds
120 ml crème fraîche or greek yoghurt
Preparation
Place a large pan with a lid over medium heat and add the olive oil. Cut one onion in 8 wedges and then cut the wedges in half crosswise. Cut the other onion finely.. Peel the ginger and grate. Add the onion and the ginger to the pan and sauté for about 10 minutes or until soft. Chop the garlic finely.
Meanwhile cut the peeled tomatoes in bigger chunks, cut the aubergine in bite-size chunks and add the aubergines to the pan.
Then add the spices, tomato paste and garlic and fry for 5 minutes. The aubergine tends to absorb the oil, so add a dash of oil when the pan gets to dry and the spices risk burning.
Add the tomatoes including their juice, 400 ml vegetable fond and 100 ml water. Stir until boiling, then lower the heat and put the lid on. Slowly simmer for 30 minutes occasionally stirring.
Prepare your salad by coarsely chopping the herb leaves and cutting the avocado in bite-sized chunks. Mix in a bowl with the pomegranate seeds. Keep a few seeds behind to sprinkle over your dish at the endWhisk the 2 tbsp olive oil with the juice of your lemon and season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Add to your salad and carefully toss the avocado through.
After the 30 minutes rinse and add the flageolets to the aubergine stew with half off the raisins and the last vegetable fond (just as much as looks needed) and simmer for 15 more minutes or until the aubergine is soft and tender. Stir in the zest of the lemon at the very end.
Meanwhile poor the couscous in a bowl and poor in enough boiling water to just cover the couscous. Cover the bowl with a lid or cling foil and let sit for 7-8 minutes.
Add the remaining raisins to your couscous and use a fork to mix in the raisins and fluff the couscous.
Heat a dry frying pan and add your nuts to it. Roast for a minute or so. Always keep a close eye on them because the line between roasted and burned is very fine. I like to use a mixture of nuts like almonds, hazelnuts and pine nuts. If you too use a mixture, make sure you roast them all separately.
Arrangement
Serve the stew in wide bowls scooped next to the couscous, the salad to the other side and topped off with crème fraîche or yoghurt and the roasted nuts, pomegranate seeds and one or two herb leaves on top.