Cuisine – Just stuff it!

Very good fresh produce drives inspiration. Farmers markets and good vegetable stores are bursting with summer bounty at this time of the year. Outdoor tomatoes, beans, cucumbers and corn are in their prime. I used to eagerly await the summer arrival of the aubergine, a princely vegetable that wears a regal glossy purple coat, but now we’re lucky enough to find perfect specimens year-round, thanks to clever shade house and glasshouse growers.

The eggplant, as it is also known, comes in various guises and is treasured also in Japanese, Indian and Thai cookery. Those cuisines call for different varieties, which can be spotted in good stores. The smaller and thinner Asian eggplant, with varying hues from white to dark violet, is great in curries, while the little green globes that are vital in Thai cuisine are rarer.

Whichever variety is called for, you will find that this is a very thirsty creature that soaks up every drop of oil that you feed it. And it’s also a vegetable that, unless thoroughly well cooked, can be very disappointing. However, treated properly it really is magnificent. Soft and fleshy, it also absorbs other flavours easily, which is why it is so good in Italian dishes with loads of garlicky tomato sauce, or in a splendid Indian curry. It absolutely must be cooked until meltingly tender and falling to shreds.

On a culinary tourism trip to Sicily some years back, I attended a cooking class in a magnificent country estate where we stayed. We gathered very small ripe aubergines (melanzane in Italian) and it was my task to bring a large pan of olive oil to the boil and carefully simmer these delightful little eggplants until they were thoroughly cooked through and tender. They then went into an opulently rich sauce made from tomatoes, onions, garlic and loads of fresh basil that also took ages to make. It was salutary lesson for me in taking care to ensure everything was cooked perfectly if you want a perfect dish.

If you want to avoid using so much oil (and it has become pretty expensive), a great way to cook eggplants is to slice them thickly and place in an oven dish lined with baking paper. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and just a little olive oil and bake at 180˚C until they turn golden and almost mushy. They will be delicious. One of the reasons people are turned off eggplants is because too often they are not cooked long enough and, thus, become almost like eating a seasoned piece of woolly cardboard.
This recipe, an aromatic stuffed eggplant, takes a little time. It’s truly worth it and can be scaled up easily if you want to serve more than just two. And if you’re catering for any of the dedicated vegetarians among us, then simply leave out the lamb.

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Stuffed aubergine with summer vegetables and lamb mince

I large eggplant (aubergine)
1 small fennel bulb or an onion
1 carrot
½ stick celery
5 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
2 tbsp orzo pasta
200g lamb mince
1 heaped tsp Moroccan spice mix
3 tbsp freshly chopped garden herbs (parsley, sage and thyme)
½ cup tomato passata
3 tbsp crumbled feta
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 190˚C. Split the eggplant lengthwise, season with salt, pepper and 2 tablespoons of the extra olive oil and bake until soft.

Meanwhile, cut the fennel, carrot and celery into fine dice and gently fry together in a heavy based frying pan in the remaining oil until golden, stirring frequently. Separately simmer 2 tablespoons of orzo pasta in salted water until al dente.

Add the lamb mince with the Moroccan spice mix and chopped fresh herbs to the golden vegetables and stir well to brown the meat. Tip in 1/2 cup tomato passata and the drained pasta and simmer together for 5 mins over low heat. Season well and keep aside.

Scoop the flesh gently from the tender eggplant, trying not to break the skin. Pile the vegetable and mince mixture into the eggplant shells.

Chop the eggplant flesh and place on top of the stuffed eggplant and scatter over some crumbled feta and grated parmesan. This can be prepared ahead of time.

When ready, bake for 20 to 30 mins at 160°C. Serve with a fresh garden salad of soft leaves and lambs lettuce. (Salty River Farm’s rocket and lambs lettuce, from the Matakana Market and selected stores, is a perfect accompaniment.)

Serves 2.