Hearty vegetarian dish adapted from a Nigella Lawson recipe.
The problem with food blogging is that a lot of the most delicious food is not particularly photogenic. If I were a truly dedicated food blogger, I would cook up beautiful cakes just for the joy of photographing them, and I would do most of my cooking in the day so I had the benefit of taking the pictures under natural light. (Or perhaps I would even have a light box).
I’m afraid I’m not that sort of food blogger. I like to write about the food I actually eat and I choose my recipes for taste, available ingredients, and health. This means a lot of my food comes in shades of red and brown. I also do most of my cooking at night.
It might look pretty ho hum from the photograph but please trust me when I say that this Lebanese aubergine stew is one of the most delicious things in my repertoire. The spices make it really tasty and fragrant, while the tomatoes, aubergine and chick peas make it hearty and satisfying. Since it’s also vegetarian and very healthy, it’s become quite a staple in our house, since I discovered it last year. It’s great on its own or with crusty bread or rice and can be kept in the fridge for several days and served warm or cold. I usually serve it as a vegetarian main dish but it would also make a lovely side dish to lamb, or could be jazzed up with some feta cheese.
The stew uses two of my favourite ingredients. Aubergine, or eggplant, is one of my favourite vegetables – when it’s cooked for a long time it acquires a wonderful texture like biting into pillows of silk, and also soaks up aroma and flavour. And pomegranate molasses, found in Middle Eastern and North African kitchens, is my new pantry favourite. The pomegranate molasses can be omitted if it’s unavailable but I think it really makes the dish sing so please find it if you can.
My recipe is adapted from ‘aubergine moussaka’ from page 117 of Nigella Lawson’s How to Eat. Her recipe in turn is adapted from Fragrance of the Earth by Nada Saleh. I’ve called it ‘stew’ because to me the word ‘moussaka’ is too strongly associated with the Greek dish of the same name – and it has nothing in common with even the vegetarian version of Greek moussaka. I don’t know what modifications Nigella made to the original recipe, but the main changes I’ve made are to use adult rather than baby aubergines, not only because they’re more readily available but also because I prefer them anyway. The dish is best with chick peas cooked from scratch and fresh, ripe tomatoes (cook them at a running boil for a minute or two to slip them out of their skins) when available. But canned chick peas and canned tomatoes work fine. The addition of dried mint was also my touch, inspired by Nigella’s advice to top it with fresh mint, coriander or parsley.
Recipe
Serves 4
Ingredients
500g aubergines/eggpants (about 1 large or 1-2 medium)
5 tablespoons olive oil
2 onions, peeled and diced
10-12 cloves garlic, peeled and left whole if small (or fewer large cloves cut in half)
150g cooked chick peas (or 1 can chick peas, drained and rinsed)
1.5 tablespoons pomegranate molasses (optional)
1.5-2 400g cans of tomatoes, including liquid, chopped (or equivalent in fresh tomatoes, deskinned)
1.5 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 allspice
1/4 teaspoon freshly milled black pepper
pinch dried mint (optional)
200ml water
fresh parsley, coriander or mint for serving (optional)
Method
Measure out the salt, cinnamon, black pepper, all spice and dried mint into a small bowl and set aside.
Trim the stems off the aubergines and cut into cubes about 1.5cm thick. In a pan, heat 3 tablespoons of oil over medium heat and sauté the aubergines for a few minutes or until golden brown. With a slotted spoon remove to a side dish covered with kitchen paper and reserve.
Add the remaining oil, onion and garlic to the pan and sauté, stirring constantly. After about 5 minutes, when the onion is translucent and soft, add the chick peas. Stir for another 5 minutes and then add the pomegranate molasses and return the reserved aubergines to the pan.
Add the tomatoes and sprinkle with the spices. Add the water and bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to moderately low. Cover and simmer for about an hour. (Nigella says you may find it’s ready after 45 minutes if you’re using a large, shallow pan but I use a Le Creuset Dutch oven and it’s about an hour for me).
I think all food bloggers agree with you about some delicious food being very ugly in photographs… Cooked meat (like roasts) are particularly hard to make look appetising. If you’re so inclined (I am!) there are little styling tricks that can be learnt
In any case, I adore aubergine as well and your description of ‘pillows of silk’ is spot on when they soak up liquid (preferably tomato based like this, or a thai green curry).
I do find the texture and taste of fresh chickpeas so much better than the tinned. Of course convenience wins most of the time but when I do get the time or inclination, I try to make em from ‘scratch’.
This eggplant stew sounds delicious and as I have an overabundance of eggplant atm, I might well give it a go! Sounds like it would be lovely with a dollop of natural yoghurt as well.
Oh I agree! It’s cheaper too. As this recipe takes well over an hour to cook anyway, to me it’s not worth cooking up chick peas specially. If you have them already cooked and waiting in your fridge then great, but actually I think the tinned chick peas are fine for this recipe – it’s cooked for such a long time anyway that I’m not sure you could tell the difference by the end. And yes, it’s great with natural or Greek yogurt or sometimes I scatter some walnuts on top. – Caitlin.
Made this last night. Very easy and delicious. Will be eating it for lunches and dinners for the rest of the week! I was surprised to find the pommegranate molasses at Sainsbury’s. Glad I did because its delicious! I want to try it as a glaze on baked sweet potatoes next
Caitlin, I just got back from Israel and the food there is so…fresh! Lots of innovative restaurants as well. And the things they do with hummus — it’s nothing like we’ve ever seen in our neck of the woods!
This recipe looks delicious, regardless of the photography.
I do know what you mean. I tend to like non-photogenic food and I take awful photos when I manage to take them at all. My greedy husband will whisk plates out of the kitchen before I have time to think about photography!
will definitely try this, especially as I even grow pomegranates (so now I have to look for a pomegranate molasses recipe). Re chick peas – we cook a whole kilo in the slow cooker occasionally and put them in 1 cup size tubs in the freezer. That way we buy organic dried chick peas in one paper bag and don’t produce 6 tins worth of waste (plus better tasting chickpeas).
That’s a good idea. Are they easy to cook in the slow cooker? – Caitlin.
Just put the chick peas in the slow cooker and cover well with water and soak overnight. Check they are still well covered,add more water if necessary and then turn them on and cook all day. I soak them to make sure I have not overfilled it as they expand so much. The good part is they don’t burn even if you forget about them (well as long as you don’t forget them for more than a few hours). If you want to make them (or any pulses) more digestible, less windy (always a good idea) you can add a 3cm piece of kombu (dried seaweed)to the pot when you cook them.
cheers
YUM. I’m wishing that someone besides me would eat this if I were to make it
I love eggplant, but haven’t yet taught anyone else in my family to enjoy it with me.
.-= Debbie Dubrow´s last blog ..Tacoma With Kids: Hotel Murano =-.
It keeps really well in the fridge for a few days and it’s even nice cold! You could make it and keep it for lunches for yourself! You could probably use a slow-cooker if you have one, though I haven’t tried. – Caitlin.
Good point. Also, I agree with you about the Pomegranate Molasses, that’s some seriously yummy stuff
Here’s another good recipe that uses it:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Walnut-Chicken-with-Pomegranate-Sauce-963
.-= Debbie Dubrow´s last blog ..Tacoma With Kids: Hotel Murano =-.
Made this as per recipe for dinner tonight – I just added a little bit of chilli powder. This was amazing, I was a little bit unsure about the spice combination but it worked really well.
Great – I love hearing about people trying out my recipes and I’m glad you enjoyed it. I’m a big fan of chilli but I suggest you try it without sometime. The spice combination in the recipe really is fantastic, especially if you have the pomegranate molasses. – Caitlin.