9 Ottolenghi recipes to make you fall in love with aubergine (2024)

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9 Ottolenghi recipes to make you fall in love with aubergine? ›

Chop the aubergine flesh roughly and transfer to a medium mixing bowl. Add the tahini, water, pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, garlic, parsley and some salt and pepper; mix well with a whisk. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more garlic, lemon juice or molasses if needed.

Chop the aubergine flesh roughly and transfer to a medium mixing bowl. Add the tahini, water, pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, garlic, parsley and some salt and pepper; mix well with a whisk. Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more garlic, lemon juice or molasses if needed.

Method. Prick the aubergines, then carefully blacken them over a direct flame on the hob (or under the grill), turning with tongs until soft inside.

From this, Ottolenghi has developed a style of food which is rooted in Middle Eastern and Mediterranean traditions, but which also draws in diverse influences and ingredients from around the world.

What is the best way to cook aubergines? You can grill, fry, griddle, barbecue and bake aubergines as well as adding them to curries and casseroles. Famous dishes include ratatouille, caponata, moussaka, parmigiana, miso aubergine and imam bayildi.

Soak eggplant slices or cubes in milk for about 30 minutes before cooking. The milk not only tempers the bitterness, but it actually makes for eggplant that is extra creamy, since the vegetable acts like a sponge and soaks up a good amount of milk in its flesh.

Salting eggplant is often explained on two points: The first point contends that eggplants can be quite bitter, and salting helps cut the bitterness. (No, salt doesn't draw out bitterness. It just helps hide it.) Second, salting eggplants reduces the sponginess and leaves you with a creamy, silky texture.

You might know them as eggplants or you might know them as aubergines, but they are exactly the same plant. The English prefer the latter name, while in North America we use the former.

Great at soaking up flavours, aubergine works well in stews, salads and curries. Try them baked, grilled or barbecued as a veggie main or in side dishes. If you enjoy our aubergine recipes, why not try some of our delicious vegetarian recipes, freezable vegetarian recipes and Mediterranean recipes.

The only real criticisms heard by the industry about Ottolenghi's earlier books were that that the ingredients lists were too long, and the recipes too complicated. "So Simple was simply genius," says Jane Morrow. Each book is very much a hands-on process, with a core team of long-term collaborators.

Are Ottolenghi recipes difficult? ›

We cook a fair amount of Ottolenghi recipes at home, because he's one of the regular food writers in our regular newspaper (The Guardian). They are usually fairly simple recipes that focus on a good combination of flavours - even as home cooks, they're not nearly the most complicated things we make.

About us. Ottolenghi began in a small shop in Notting Hill, London in 2002. Chefs Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi were at the helm, creating a unique deli, restaurant, and bakery setting, which soon became a clear reflection of our obsessive relationship with food.

It's likely just been exposed to air and is experiencing enzymatic browning. An eggplant with brown spots is not safe to eat if it contains bugs or mold or exhibits other signs of spoilage. It should be thrown out.

This is the answer to the ultimate craving of meat-lovers. The meat is full of flavours from the grill. The baked aubergines give that delicious umami kick to really lift this dish to the stars.

You would have to eat more than a dozen whole eggplants (at least!) in one sitting before reaching potentially toxic levels of solanine. (Read about solanine in sprouted potatoes for more information on the topic.) In fact, the compound can also be present in cooked eggplant.

Put the tahini, lemon juice, garlic, half a teaspoon of salt and 100ml water in a small saucepan. Whisk to a smooth paste, then put on a medium-low heat and whisk in the yoghurt bit by bit, until the sauce starts to steam.

Tahini is simply sesame-seed butter, made by grinding hulled sesame seeds into a paste. Much of its makeup is carbohydrates, and when a small amount of juice (or any water-containing liquid) is added to tahini, a portion of each carbohydrate molecule is drawn to the water.

So, what's the difference between mutabal and baba ghanoush? Well, it seems that the big difference is the use of tahini: Mutabal calls for it, while Baba Ganoush doesn't. In addition, baba ganoush usually includes chopped vegetables, such as tomato, pepper, and garlic mixed with pomegranate molasses.

Today, eggplants are bred not to have that kind of bitterness," Jenkins explains. She does call out one outlier though. "The only exception is when you deep fry it. I tend to soak the slices in a bowl of water with a couple of tablespoon of salt for about 30-45 minutes.