A delicious dish devised as the vegetarian option of a hotel taverna menu in Crete. I enjoyed working at this recipe and friends who acted as guinea pigs loved it too!
Ingredients – serves 6
For the baklava
- 2 globe aubergines trimmed and sliced in 1cm thick slices (600g net weight)
- 2 large courgettes, trimmed and sliced in 1cm thick slices (300g net weight)
- 50g Kalamata olives without stones, finely chopped
- 300g filo pastry
- 100g feta cheese
- 50g panko breadcrumbs (mixed with 1 tbsp fresh lemon thyme leaves, salt & pepper & a spray of evoo and baked )
- Evoo for brushing
- Egg wash for brushing the top
- Sesame for sprinkling
For the tomato salad
- 2 ripe tomatoes
- ¼ red onion, cut in small brunoises
- Lemon thyme leaves
- 1g dried oregano
- 1 tbsp petimezi (grape must syrup)
- Vinegar to taste
- Evoo
Method
Sprinkle the aubergine and courgette slices with salt and leave to stand for 15 minutes. Rinse and pat dry.
Brush the aubergine slices with evoo and bake in a preheated oven at 200C for 30 minutes on one side. Turn and bake for another 20 minutes on the other side.
You can also bake the courgettes similarly or griddle until caramelised on both sides.
In a bowl, crumble the feta over the crumb and mix well.
Brush a tin 30 x 20cm. Preheat the oven to 180C.
You can make this baklava by layering everything as in the photo below or by spooning near the narrow edge of the filo and rolling as in the main photo.
For the classic layered look, lay one sheet of filo in the tin, drizzle with evoo and cover with another sheet. Repeat with the evoo – using 4 sheets in total. Lay the cooked aubergine slices on the filo and top with half the feta/crumb mix. Sprinkle with half the chopped olives. Lay 3 pieces of filo drizzling with evoo in between.
Top the filo sheets with the cooked courgette slices and finish with the other half of the feta/crumb mix and chopped olives.
Start turning any filo sheets inwards over the courgette mix and use up all the excess filo to cover the baklava mix, remembering to drizzle evoo between sheets of filo. Finish with 3 pieces of filo exactly the size of the tin. Brush with the egg wash, sprinkle with the sesame seeds, score with a knife in 6 pieces and bake for 70-80 minutes, covering the baklava if you think that the filo is in risk of burning.
For the salad, skin and trim the tomatoes. Remove the seeds and chop in small brunoises. Chop the red onion in small brunoises too. In a bowl, mix the tomato, onion, fresh thyme leaves, oregano, Evoo, grape must syrup and vinegar. Season and toss to mix well.
When serving drizzle the tomato all around the baklava or spoon to one side and drizzle extra petimezi if you like.
