Eggplant with Cheese in Tomato Almond Sauce
Appetizers Simple Recipes Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian Recipes Vegetables Vegetable Dishes Turkish
This recipe is inspired by my recent visit to Istanbul. It was listed among the warm appetizers, but for us it was dinner. It can easily be prepared for more people, in which case, to avoid dealing with so many individual dishes, you can use a large oven-safe dish where you put all the sauce and distribute the eggplant "towers" on top. From a medium eggplant, you get enough slices for 4-5 people. I actually grilled the whole eggplant last night and the remaining slices (which I brushed with a little oil and put in a bowl covered with plastic wrap) I used today in my work sandwich.
Ingredients
6 eggplant rounds (about 1 cm thick)
100 g goat cheese
2 sprigs parsley
oil
salt
Tomato Almond Sauce
500 g ripe tomatoes
1 small onion (about 30 g)
30 g almonds (blanched)
5 sprigs parsley
2 tablespoons oil
1 pinch sugar
salt, pepper, chili (pul biber)
Servings: 2
How to prepare eggplant with cheese in tomato almond sauce
- Cover the almonds with cold water a few hours before preparing this recipe (the night before or in the morning is fine).
- Start with preparing the sauce which can be made ahead and stored in the refrigerator. Sauté the chopped onion in the hot oil, just until it softens a bit (about 2 minutes). Add the drained almonds and sauté together for another 2 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes grated on a box grater and bring to a boil. Add the sugar, salt, pepper to taste and a little chili if you want the sauce spicy (I used 1/4 teaspoon pul biber). Cook the sauce on high heat for 5-7 minutes, stirring frequently especially towards the end so it doesn't stick.
* if you multiply the recipe, the cooking time for the sauce will also increase - Add the finely chopped parsley. Keep the sauce until needed.
- Sprinkle the eggplant rounds with salt on both sides and leave to drain on paper towels for 20-30 minutes. Then brush with oil on both sides and cook on a grill pan (preheated for 5 minutes) for about 5 minutes per side (until they get grill marks).
- Grate the cheese.
- Divide the sauce between two small oven-safe dishes. Place 3 grilled eggplant slices in the center of each, stacked on top of each other and sprinkled with cheese between them (put more cheese on top).
- Bake at 200°C for 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted.
- Serve warm, sprinkled with freshly chopped parsley.
Sautéed onion with almonds
Tomato sauce is ready
Eggplant on the grill
Dish goes into the oven
