You have to take your hat off to Ralph Ferrett. A self-confessed ‘voracious carnivore’, he is going vegetarian for the whole of September. It’s a noble effort, and one that I could not echo, but it has at least inspired me to eat less meat, for the sake of the environment, my health, and my wallet.
Aubergine is a meaty fella, however, and makes a stunning substitute for a hunk of flesh. If you don’t have the time to make goat’s curd then just use goat’s yoghurt, or indeed normal yoghurt. I happened to have some leftover, and wouldn’t ordinarily wait 24 hours to cook Sunday lunch.
Serves 1
A medium aubergine
200ml goat’s yoghurt
A red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
A few parsley leaves
Half a lemon
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
I fully realise that you probably won’t bother to make goat’s curd for what is otherwise a very quick and simple dish, but just in case you want to know how (it’s very easy)…
– Make the goat’s curd putting a sieve over a bowl and lining the sieve with muslin cloth or a clean J cloth. Tip in the goat’s yoghurt, add a pinch of salt, and leave in the fridge for 24 hours. You’re aiming to drain the whey, leaving you with thick, rich curd.
– Preheat the oven to 200C. Cut the aubergine in half down the middle and score to flesh in criss-crosses. Season with salt and pepper and a little olive oil and stick in the oven for 45 minutes.
– Remove from the oven and top with a good thuck of goat’s curd, chopped chilli and a few parsley leaves. Serve immediately with a drizzle of oil and a squeeze of lemon.
*****
Simple and delicious. Thank you for reminding me how tasty aubergines can be especially if they are given a bit of a kicking with chilli!
Simple and delicious is what I go for – thank you Rachel, J
Looks delish! I have done similar but with Greek yoghurt, pomegranate seeds & dukkah. Entirely agree that aubergine is probably the best meaty veg around!
Ooh, yes, that sounds lovely. I think there’s one in the new Ottolenghi book which uses pomegranates and buttermilk.
Thanks for the shout…. and thanks for the recipe… This is deffo one to try. I cooked Baba Ganoush yesterday and it is the first time I had ever used Aubergine….
What have I been missing, it is class…. Think I might fall in love with Aubergines for a bit!
Yes it is queen to beetroot’s king for me.
Argh! First rule of journalism – spell names correctly. Amended. J
Is a common and easy error. Been know to make that one myself on more than one occasion and I have had this name my whole life!!!
In fact much more embarrassing is that I once spelled “Ralph” wrong on a name badge at a conference, walked around for Hours before someone asked me what the origin of the unusual name “Ralp” was….
Brilliant.
“fully realise you wouldn’t bother to make goat’s curd”
obviously that doesn’t apply to me, as I’m sure you know. Any kind of strained yoghurt is so far up my strasse you don’t even know. I am obsessed with it. I put a batch on to strain every other day. it’s ridiculous. I can’t get enough.
Ha, yes, but I fear you’re in the minority my love. Though yesterday I ate more of the leftovers with roasted beetroot and lots of toast. And lots of black pepper and olive oil. Yerm.
I’m a big fan if goats curd, especially at breakfast! I’ll be trying out your simple, elegant and delicious sounding recipe. X