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It went from the blistering heat of summer to the wicked rain and wind this week. So in keeping with a weather a nice warm and hearty dish to share.
I used to always say how much I loved aubergines but a year or so ago while driving back from Bordeaux we stopped in the town of Saintes and we ended up at a pizza joint. I was not only hungry but excited about my choice, that is until I bit into poorly prepared aubergine that was spongy and bitter. I’ve had a hard time enjoying it ever since. Jérémie knew asking me to cook some up would probably be a challenge but even I had to admit that the ones being offered by the maraîcher at the Fontainebleau market were beautiful. So I agreed and decided to try out an old recipe that I had thrown together from what I had on hand. I had just a few notes from that last time that read, “Aubergine heated it in a pan until it was soft enough to roll with a filling of spinach, artichoke, ricotta and goat cheese.”
This rendition is a little bit different (no fresh goats cheese on hand this time) so here’s what I came up. It’s a fairly flexible recipe so if you have something slightly different in your fridge and you think it’ll work, I invite you to make it your own and clear the fridge at the same time! Would love to hear and see how yours turns out.
Aubergine Involtini
Ingredients
- 2 Onions small
- 3 cloves Garlic roughly chopped
- 1 can plum tomatoes whole (850g)
- ¼ tsp Salt (adjust according to your tomatoes)
- ½ tsp Oregano dried
- ¼ tsp Smoked Paprika
- ½ tsp Balsamic Vinegar
- Pepper to taste
- 1 Aubergine/Eggplant
- Salt Coarse
- 250 g Spinach frozen (heated and strained of excess water)
- 100 g Artichoke chopped
- 100 g Ricotta
- 1 clove Garlic grated or finely chopped
- ½ tsp Thyme dried
- ⅛ tsp Salt
- 25 g Parmesan grated
- 1 Lemon all of the zest and juice of half of the lemon
- Pepper to taste
- Olive Oil
- drizzle Creme Fraiche / Heavy Cream
Instructions
- Dice onions and add them to a lightly oiled pan over medium heat
- Begin roughly chopping 3 garlic and add to the pan when the onions have sufficiently softened and just before adding a whole can of plum tomatoes
- Finally add your salt, oregano, smoked paprika, balsamic vinegar and pepper
- Let it remain at a low simmer for approximately a half-hour until it has thickened up and the flavours have come together
- Using a knife or a mandoline, cut your aubergine lengthwise with a thickness of approximately .5cm
- Lay out the slices on a cooling rack and cover both sides generously with salt to remove excess water and bitterness from the aubergines (thus avoiding the spongy quality)
- Allow them to sit at least one half hour
- Preheat the oven to 425°F / 220°C
- In a saucepan measure 250g of frozen spinach and place over a low heat to melt
- Meanwhile chop up 100 g of marinated artichoke (drained), place in a medium-sized bowl
Add ricotta, your grated or finely chopped garlic clove, thyme, salt, parmesan, lemon zest and juice and season with pepper. - When your spinach has completely thawed place it in a fine-mesh strainer to remove excess water before adding it to the bowl. Mix thoroughly
- Place your tomato sauce into an oven-safe baking dish (I split mine in two so we could enjoy the rest another night)
- Rinse off and pat dry your aubergines and give them a quick fry in a hot oiled pan to colour both sides
- Take your spinach filling and place a large dollop at the end of each piece of aubergine and roll up and place in your baking dish
- Take creme fraiche or heavy cream and spoon out or drizzle over the rolls before baking
Cook for 25 minutes. If you'd like it a little more golden just give it a quick couple minutes under the broiler. Serve with a sprinkling of parmesan.
Notes
