Here is another recipe from my travel instagram story feature and this time it’s Greek baked aubergine in tomato sauce with feta. If you ever been to Greece or it’s islands you might have noticed how good they can prepare the aubergine – or it’s just me that thinks that? I don’t have enough words to describe how good this dish is and the almond feta I made for this bake is one of best decisions I ever made.
Tips and insights:
- recommend using using high quality olive oil
- this dish is best served with bread – I like to cut my sourdough into stripes and toast it a bit with some olive oil and salt (I would normally add some garlic, but there is already enough of it in tomato sauce)
- make sure to reduce the tomato sauce well – you will thank yourself later
- if you want to rush the dripping of almond feta, give it a few gentle squeezes with hand
- if you have one portion baking tins/ ramekins you can divide the recipe into individual portions
- when you score aubergine before baking be generous with oil – you will see aubergine absorbing it quickly but oil prevents it from drying out
You will need:
- 2 aubergines
- 2 tins of chopped tomatoes (1 tin=400g)
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tsp salt
- 3 tsp sugar
- 1 tbsp vinegar (I used balsamic)
- 1 tsp dried herbs (such as thyme, oregano, marjoram, basil, etc.)
- black pepper to taste
- .
- For almond feta:
- 80g ground almonds
- 80g water
- 30ml lemon juice (2tbsp)
- 20ml olive oil (1.5 tbsp)
- 0.5 tsp salt
What to do?
- first prepare feta - blend all the ingredients together, move the mix to a double layered cheesecloth and leave to hang for as long as you can. If you don't have any time for that at all - hang it until aubergines are baking and just before using it gently squeeze the excess liquid by hand
- prepare aubergines by cutting them in a half and scoring the inside with a knife.
- brush the aubergines gently with olive oil and bake at 160C temperature for 50-60mins until soft.
- in the meantime prepare your tomato sauce - chop garlic and fry it in the remaining oil until aromatic - do not burn them! You don't want your garlic to turn golden either.
- add the rest of ingredients and simmer on medium-low heat until sauce reduces. I simmered all the time until my aubergines were baking.
- when your aubergines are soft, pour tomato sauce over them and top it with feta - it will not be crumbly, so I used spoon to scoop it on.
- bake everything for another 15 minutes at 175C temperature
- for serving, sprinkle with fresh herbs, warm up some bread and...
Enjoy!