AUBERGINES, melanzane, what beauti- ful names! It is such a
come-down for them to dwindle into egg plant. These gorgeous vegetables seem particularly suitable for this season, clothed as they are in their splendid lenten vestments, so I thought I would concentrate on them. First of all, when buying them always go for the plump shiny ones, the wrinkled specimens with- out the glossy waxy appearance are stale, and heaven knows what may lurk within. There are many receipts for aubergine salad, sometimes called poor man's caviare (and how). I made this one for the boys here the other day and nobody knew what it was, so spread the good news.
Aubergine Purée
8 good-sized aubergines 2 onions, chopped finely 4 cloves of garlic 1 lemon 6 dessertspoons of tomato purée 1 dessertspoon of sugar olive oil salt and black pepper
Remove the stem and prickly green cap from the aubergines, caress each one with olive oil and place on baking trays in a preheated oven at gas 6, F 400, C 205. Bake for 45 minutes until quite soft when pierced. Cool enough to handle, cut in half and scoop out the innards. Chop or process finely. Sweat the onions in about six tablespoons of olive oil in a pan large enough to incorporate the aubergine mess. Cover onions when soft, add the mess plus the crushed garlic, tomato pufee, juice and zest of the lemon, sugar, then season with salt and a quantity of fresh ground pepper. Cook uncovered, stirring now and then until the contents are nice and thick and any extraneous juices have gone. Check the seasoning, remove to a suitable dish to cool, then chill well. Serve with two tablespoons of chopped parsley stirred into it and surround with black olives and tomatoes. Have some hot toast or good crusty bread on the side.
One of the more delicious Italian methods of dealing with aubergines is a wonderful gooey, piping hot oven dish.
Melanzane alla parmigiana
6 large aubergines 8 oz mozzarella cheese, finely sliced 4 oz parmesan cheese, freshly grated olive oil, salt and pepper, tomato sauce
Remove stem and cap from the auber- gines, cut lengthways into 1/4" slices, sprink- le with salt and leave in a sieve or collender with a weight on top for an hour. Make a tomato sauce — heat a small coffee cup of oil, add two crushed garlic cloves, a 28-oz tin of plum tomatoes, four tablespoons of tomato puree, stir all together, season to taste with salt, pepper and a little sugar, cover and simmer for half an hour then mix in some basil or oregano. Keep at the ready. Pat the sliced aubergines dry then fry until golden in olive oil. Drain on paper towels or newspaper, grind pepper over them. You will have to do all this 01 batches but never mind. Make sure the oil is nice and hot if you need to add more (as you will) before frying another batch. Put a layer of aubergine at the bottom of a casserole, then a layer of mozzarella, a layer of tomato sauce and a sprinkle of parmesan, continue this way until every- thing is used up, ending with a good layer of parmesan to form a crust. Bake in a preheated oven at gas 4, F 355, C 150, for 35 to 45 minutes. This is very rich and needs a green salad and robust red wine. Heaven.
Finally a pasta using aubergines.
Tagliatelle with sausage and aubergines
1 lb of really good meaty pork sausages 1 large aubergine 3 tablespoons of sunflower oil 1/2 lb of fat streaky bacon, finely chopped 1/4 lb of freshly grated parmesan cheese 18 oz tagliatelle
Put the sausages in boiling water for five minutes, remove and cut into one-inch lengths. Cut the aubergine into small dice and fry briskly in the oil for two minutes. In another pan cook the bacon gently until transparent, then add the sausages, turn up the heat and also fry briskly for a couple of minutes. Meanwhile your tagliatelle have been cooking in plenty of salted water; when ready, drain them but save a little of the water they were cooked in. Place the pasta in a heated dish, pour the sausage and bacon over it, put two tablespoons of the saved water into the used pan and scrape up any bits, add to the pasta together with the fried aubergines and grated cheese. Mix thoroughly and gently. Serve at once.
Jennifer Paterson
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