In Greek cuisine we fry everything in olive oil which adds a lot of flavour to our food. As about 75% of our olive oil naturally produced is extra virgin olive oil, we are fortunate also to have the nutritional benefits from it.
My mum always made her ‘melitzanosalata’ with walnuts and I learned from a very young age that the combination of flavours works very well. Here the walnuts are Opies pickled and used in a sauce to dip the aubergine in. Great nibbles to go round at a party or as a sharing starter plate amongst all the others of a Greek feast!
Ingredients
- 1 globe aubergine, finely sliced preferable using a mandolin
- 3 tbsp flour
- Extra virgin olive oil for frying
For the creamy pickled walnut dipping sauce
- 80g thick Greek yogurt
- 80g cream cheese
- 3 pickled walnuts
- 30ml extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp lemon juice and zest of ½ lemon
- A pinch of cumin
Method
To make the dipping sauce, put all the ingredients in a small blender and blitz. Season with some sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Put the sliced aubergine in a colander and sprinkle with salt. Leave to stand for 15-20 minutes. Rinse the aubergine slices and squeeze to get rid of all the moisture. Spread on some kitchen paper.
Put the flour on a flat plate and season with some freshly ground black pepper and a pinch of salt. Dust the aubergine slices. Bring a frying half-filled with oil to a high temperature (around 177-1800C). Fry the aubergine slices for a few minutes till golden and crispy. Drain on some kitchen paper and serve.