Smoking the aubergine is not strictly speaking necessary but if you have a way to inject it, smoke suits this dish very well! My mum was constantly making aubergine salad (it was really more like an emulsion) using lots of walnuts and this one is based on it although I add some water to mine and almond milk to make it a little lighter. Also, I don’t use soaked stale bread but panko crumbs for yet again the airy texture they give to what otherwise can be, by the nature of the walnuts a dense cream.
Ingredients (serves 6)
- 3 globe aubergines
- 1 medium sized courgette
- 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 sprig of thyme
- 1 garlic clove, bruised
- 2 medium sized carrots
- 1 tsp vegetable stock powder
- 3 sundried tomatoes, 20g, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp capers, rinsed and drained
- 100g bulgur
- ½ tsp veg stock powder
For the walnut sauce
- 50g walnuts
- 80ml almond milk
- 25g panko breadcrumbs
- 1/2 garlic clove
- 50ml extra virgin olive oil
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
For the dressing
- ½ grapefruit, juice only
- 50ml extra virgin olive oil
- 1 Opies pickled walnut, 15g
- 1 tbsp pickled walnut liquor
- A pinch of ground cumin
- A pinch of ground coriander
To serve
- 6 lettuce leaves
- Extra virgin olive oil to drizzle
Method
Trim each aubergine and cut 4 long slices from each. Put the slices in a colander and sprinkle with a generous pinch of salt. Leave for 15 minutes, rinse and squeeze to remove excess moisture. Put 2 tbsp of olive oil in a bowl, lay the aubergine slices on a flat tray and brush with the olive oil. Season with salt and pepper.
Bring a large frying pan to a high heat and cook each aubergine slice for 2 minutes on each side until caramelized. Transfer the aubergine slices onto a smoker at this point for 15 minutes if you want to add the smoky flavour to them.
Preheat the oven to 180C Fan. Transfer the aubergine slices onto a baking tray lined with a silicone mat and finish cooking by baking in the oven for 10 minutes.
While the aubergine slices are cooking, trim and cut the courgette in 0.5cm slices lengthwise and then each slice in 0.5 strips and then again in pieces of no more than 1.5cm long. Bring a large frying pan to a high heat with the remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil and brown the courgette pieces all round, adding the clove of garlic and sprig of thyme to add flavour and stirring occasionally so as not to burn the courgette pieces.
Boil or steam the carrots.
To make the bulgur salad, bring a small pan with 200ml water, the stock powder, the bulgur and a pinch of salt to a simmer. Cook for 10 minutes. Leave covered for a further 10 minutes and use a fork to fluff up. Add the cooked courgettes, carrots, capers and sundried tomatoes and stir to mix.
For the sauce, put the walnuts on a baking tray in the hot oven for 3 minutes. Put all the ingredients in a small blender, add 50ml cold water and blitz to emulsify. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the finely chopped parsley.
To make the dressing, blitz all the ingredients in a jug with a stick blender. Season to taste.
To serve, spoon the bulgur into the lettuce leaves and place on a platter. Arrange the aubergine slices next to the lettuce and spoon some of the walnut sauce in between. Drizzle with the dressing and serve.