Eggplant

• 1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C

  2. Line baking tray with baking paper

  3. Cut eggplants in half length wise, put on tray flat side down

  4. Bake for 15 minutes

  5. Remove from oven, use a spoon to scoop out flesh, reserve shells

  6. Chop eggplant flesh into 1cm pieces

  7. Heat 2 tbsp oil in frying pan, add flesh, capsicum and garlic and fry for 5 minutes

  8. Stir in walnuts, tomatoes and parsley

  9. Sprinkle vinegar over everything and season

  10. Spoon filling into shells, return to baking tray and bake for 30 minutes

  11. Meanwhile blanch spinach in a saucepan of salted water until just tender, drain and cool

  12. Squeeze out excess moisture and coarsely chop

  13. Put spinach in a blender along with feta and ricotta

  14. Puree to smooth paste, add a little water if too thick

  15. Set aside until ready to serve

  16. Serve eggplant with a dollop of whipped feta

1.  Preheat oven to 220 degrees C and line 2 large baking trays with baking paper

2. Halve the eggplant crossways and then slice each half into 6-8 wedges

3. Put them into a large bowl and drizzle them with olive oil, mix thoroughly, spread out into a single layer on tray

4. Roast for 30-35 minutes until deep golden brown, turning half way through cooking

Spicy Yoghurt

1. Meanwhile place all yoghurt ingredients in a bowl and mix together, taste and tweak if necessary with more salt or cumin, cover and put in fridge

2. When eggplant ready, put in a shallow serving bowl, when ready to serve, drizzle a little spicy yoghurt over the eggplant, scatter pomegranate seeds and dill sprigs over the top, serve the remaining yoghurt separately

Preheat the oven to 200 C

1. Cut the eggplant and zucchini into large chunks and thinly slice the onion

2. Toss with olive oil and season

3. Place all the vegetables (on a large lined baking tray and roast for about 30 mins or until tender but not falling apart, turning occasionally

4. The zucchini might be cooked before the other vegetables so remove as cooked, cool

Dressing

Place all the ingredients in a food processor, season and blend until smooth

To assemble

Place the vegetables on a platter and drizzle with some of the dressing. Garnish with extra coriander and pass the remaining dressing separately

1. Preheat oven 200 C

2. Cut eggplants in half lengthways, leaving stems intact, place cut  side up on a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt

3. Bake for about 35 minutes  until soft and lightly  browned

4. Heat olive oil in a medium pot  on medium heat

5. Cook onion, capsicum and garlic for 3-4 mins until soft

6. Add couscous, Moroccan spice mix, lemon zest and cook for a further minute

7. Add water, stock and pinch of salt

8. Bring to boil, stir and cover with lid, reduce heat to low and cook covered for 8-10 mins  until couscous is  tender

9. Turn off heat and leave couscous to finish steaming for 10  mins before uncovering and tossing with  dried apricots and currants and parsley

10. Season with salt and pepper

11. Remove eggplants from oven and scoop out flesh, chop flesh and add to couscous

12. Loosely fill eggplant shells, top with feta and dollop of chutney

13. Return to oven and bake for 6-8 minutes

14. Sprinkle with  toasted nuts and parsley

METHOD

Pre-heat the oven 190˚C.

Cut the eggplant in half lengthways, then into 2cm cubes. Put the oil in a roasting dish, add the eggplant, onion, capsicum, sea salt and chilli flakes and stir to coat with the oil. Cook for 15 minutes then add the broccoli and cook a further 10 minutes, or until the eggplant is cooked through. Add the beans and lentils and cook a further 5 minutes to heat. Serve with garlicky yoghurt and dukkah. 

For the Garlicky Yoghurt, whisk all the ingredients together and store, covered in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Where’s the meat? 

Pan-fry lamb or beef tenderloins, slice and pop on top before serving or stir through a drained tin of tuna.

Work it your way 

Swap out the broccoli for cauliflower florets and add 1 chopped kumara with the cauliflower.

Stir through 200 grams cooked pasta and top with crumbled feta to extend the meal.

Serve cold as a salad, with spinach leaves, crumbled feta and chopped black olives. Add a little water to the sauce to use as a dressing.

Add chopped tomatoes and grated tasty cheese, and serve in warm wraps with garlicky sauce. (Add cooked meat of your choice here too)

1. In a large sauté pan over a low heat, fry onions in olive oil until translucent.

2. Add the garlic, oregano and paprika and fry for two minutes. Add all remaining sauce ingredients and leave to simmer for 30 minutes or until thickened. Pour sauce into a large baking dish and set aside. 

3. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 190ºC. 

4. Place the thinly sliced eggplant on two or three lined baking trays. Drizzle over olive and season with salt. Bake for 15 minutes, flipping half way through. Eggplant should be soft but not golden. Set aside to cool. 

5. In a large bowl, combine ricotta filling ingredients. Place a large spoonful of ricotta filling at the end of each eggplant slice. Roll the piece of eggplant up around the filling and place seam side down into the baking dish. Repeat with remaining eggplant slices. 

6. Pour cream over eggplant and tomato sauce and sprinkle over a generous handful of grated parmesan cheese. 

7. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until golden brown and bubbling. Serve with crunchy sourdough.

1. Preheat oven 180 C

2. Brush a 28cm round baking dish with oil

3. Layer half the eggplant in a circular motion on the baking dish, starting from the centre and working your way out

4. Place the mince, breadcrumbs, honey, cumin, mint and pine nuts in a large bowl with salt and pepper and mix to combine

5. Press mince onto eggplant and crumble over the feta

6. Add another layer of eggplant starting from the centre and working your way out

7. Sprinkle over oregano sprigs and top with sumac and drizzle with oil

8. Bake for 40-45 mins or until lamb is cooked right through and eggplant is golden

9. While the pie is cooking, make the minted yoghurt

10. Add yoghurt, mint and salt to taste to a bowl and mix to combine

Dough

1. Put flour and salt in a bowl and slowly add olive oil and water, stirring until the dough comes together roughly

2. Knead for a couple of  minutes on a lightly floured bench until the dough is soft and smooth

3. Put into oiled bowl, cover and set aside for an hour to rest while you make the filling

Eggplant filling

1. Bake, barbecue or grill the whole eggplants until very soft

2. When cool enough to handle, remove and discard the skin and roughly chop the flesh

3. Drain in a sieve to remove excess moisture

4. When cool, squeeze out any remaining liquid, then combine with the tomato paste, spring onions and mint

Dough

1. Divide dough into 8 pieces and roll into balls

2. On a lightly floured bench and using a floured rolling pin, take one ball at a time and roll out the dough very thinly (1mm thick)

3. Add 3 tbsp filling over one half of the dough and add some feta

4. Fold the dough over the filling into a half moon shape, press down gently to release any air pockets and to seal the edges (you might like to brush the edges with a smidgen of water

5. Put on a try lined with baking paper and sprinkled with semolina

6. Heat  a bbq hot plate, frill or frying pan over a medium low heat and fry the bread for approx 3 minutes, when you should see the dough blistering

7. Turn over and cook for another 3 mins

8. Serve immediately with the roasted capsicum and chilli salsa, cutting into wedges

1. Prick the chillies with the tip of your knife and then grill or bake along with the red capsicums until tender (the chillies will cook faster than the capsicums)

2. Coo then remove the skins  and seeds

3. Score a cross into the base of the tomatoes and remove the cores, then cover  with boiling water for 30 secs, plunge into iced water and when cool enough to handle, remove the skins

4. Scoop out the seeds, strain through a fine sieve to catch any of the tomato water and reserve

5. Finely chop the chilli, capsicums and tomatoes, add vinegar, paprika, chilli flakes (if using), olive oil and enough tomato water to loosen slightly

6. Season to taste with salt

7. Ideally let the mix sit at room temperature for an hour for the flavours to mingle

1. Peel and finely chop garlic and ginger

2. Halve the chillies lengthways, remove seeds, discard and finely chop

3. Trim and finely slice the spring onions keeping the white and green parts separate

4. Wash and trim aubergines and cut into 3-4cm thick pieces

5. Mix the soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar and cornflour in a small bowl with the cold water

6. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over med-high heat

7. Add the aubergines and fry for 5 mins, turning once, until golden on both sides, add the garlic, ginger, chilli and white part of the spring onion

8. Reduce heat to medium and cook for a further 5-10 mins, stirring occasionally until tender

9. Add the soy sauce mixture to the pan, increase the heat to high and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring well

10. Add a little water if the sauce thickens too quickly

11. Reduce heat to low and cook for 5-6 mins until sauce is shiny and thick

12. Spoon the aubergines and sauce onto a serving plate and scatter with the green spring onions and sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 200 C fan bake

Eggplant

1. Brush all sides of the eggplant with oil and season with salt and pepper

2. Place on large baking tray and cook for 25 mins or until tender but not collapsing, turn often

Sauce

1. Heat the oil in a large frying pan over a low heat and add the onion, cinnamon stick and the cumin seeds

2. Season with salt and pepper and cook for 5 mins

3. Stir in the garlic, ginger, all the spices, sugar and tomato paste and cook for 2 mins until fragrant, adding a splash of water if the pan is too dry

4. Stir in the coconut cream, water, tomatoes and curry leaves and bring to boil

5. Reduce the heat to low and simmer gently for 15-20 mins, stirring often.

To serve

1. Put the eggplant in a warm shallow dish

2. Add the lime juice to the curry sauce then pour over the eggplant

3. Top with cashew nuts

Equipment: 26cm ovenproof sauté pan.

Preheat the oven to 180°C fan bake.

Combine all the base ingredients together in a large bowl. Add the chicken and eggplant and toss to coat.

Tip into the sauté pan and fold the thighs to make plump parcels. Nestle in the tomatoes and lemon quarters and place the sprigs of curry leaves on top.

Bake for 35 minutes, basting halfway through cooking, or until the chicken is fully cooked. Squeeze over the juice from lemon quarters just before serving.

1. Preheat the oven to 180C

2. Line a large baking dish with paper

3. Slice the eggplants in half lengthways, score the flesh, and drizzle generously with oil

4. Bake for 25 minutes until the middle is softened

5. Remove and allow to cool enough to remove the flesh, then chop the flesh roughly

6. In a pan, drizzle some oil. Add the onion, garlic and carrot cooking for 5 mins

7. Add the mince, breaking it up and browning all over

8. Stir through the tomatoes, thyme and sugar, cooking for 5-8 mins to thicken slightly- season with salt and pepper

9. Stir through the eggplants flesh and parsley

10. Spoon the mixture back into the eggplants, piling it up

11. Dot over the feta

12. Bake for 20 mins before serving to melt the cheese

13. Combine the yoghurt, lemon juice and parsley for the sauce

1. Peheat the oven to 200 C Fan bake

2. Score the flesh of the eggplants in a criss-cross pattern taking care not to cut through the skin

3. Brush generously with olive oil, season with salt and pepper then place cut side down in a large baking dish

4. Roast for 30 mins or until tender but not collapsing. Carefull turn cut side up

Topping

1. While the eggplant is cooking, heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat

2. Add the garlic, capers, chilli flakes, oregano and the tomato paste and cook for a couple of minutes until fragrant (don't let the garlic catch and burn)

3. Stir in the tomatoes, sugar and basil, season with salt and pepper and simmer for about 10 minutes until reduced and thickened

4. Stir in the chicken. Turn the grill to its highest setting

To serve

1. Spoon the sauce over the eggplant and top with the grated mozzarella then ripped fresh mozzarella

2. Place under the grill for a few minutes until golden and bubbling