Taken from Dianry Henry’s latest book; From The Oven To The Table, this roasted aubergine and tomato dish makes a seriously tasty supper, especially when mopped up with a good quality loaf of bread.
Why not serve this dish as part of a vibrant mezze spread?
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Ingredients
For the vegetables and freekeh
- 1kg baby aubergines
- 1kg plum tomatoes (you can use a mixture of
colours – red, green and yellow – as long as they are
about the same size) - 100g unsalted butter
- 12 garlic cloves, not too finely sliced
- Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
- A little soft light brown sugar (optional, only if your
tomatoes aren’t sweet) - 250g cooked freekeh
- Natural yogurt, to serve
- Good bread, to serve
For the koch-kocha
- ½ green pepper, halved, deseeded and roughly chopped
- 50g coriander leaves
- 1 red chilli and 1 green chilli, halved and deseeded
- 3cm fresh root ginger, peeled and finely grated
- Juice of 1 lime
- ½ tablespoon cider vinegar, or white wine vinegar
- 1 garlic clove, finely grated
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground cardamom seeds
- ¼ teaspoon crushed grains of paradise
- ½ teaspoon crushed ajwain
- 100ml extra virgin olive oil
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Method
- Preheat the oven to 190C/fan 170C/ gas 6. Pierce each aubergine with the tip of a knife – you don’t have to remove the tops – and cut the tomatoes in half. Put them into a roasting tin or a shallow casserole dish 30cm (12inches) in diameter. They don’t have to quite lie in a single layer but they should almost do so.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the garlic. Cook over a low heat for a few minutes, then pour the butter all over the vegetables, turning them over. Season and sprinkle each tomato half with a little sugar if they aren’t very sweet. If you have great tomatoes, you won’t need it.
- Roast for 30 minutes, turning the aubergines over once during this time.
- For the koch-kocha sauce, simply put everything into a food processor and whizz until smooth.
- Add the freakeh to the roasting tin, pushing it down under the vegetables (you don’t want it sprinkled on top of them). Return to the oven for a final 5-10 minutes, or until the tomatoes are caramelised, the aubergines are tender right through and the freekeh has become slightly sticky at the edges.
- Serve the dish with the sauce, a big bowl of natural yoghurt and good bread.
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