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Guys, you gotta be loose when you cook. Or I do, anyway. Here is a recipe I once gave to JtB, with the same disclaimer that quantities, times and specifics aren't my thing. (He never used it.)
Take two bottles of red wine. Or one rose. Yeah, I've definitely been converted to rose, so I'm going to suggest the mix. Open a bottle and pour yourself a large glass. Remember, you enjoy this a lot more if the glass itself is large, as opposed to being full. I'm suggesting both here. Have a decent sip.
Take those aubergines and slice them lengthways. Then put them in the water you have boiling by the side.
Ten minutes earlier was probably a good time to start preheating the over. Mediumish heat. (Crappy rented flats don't have a reliable heat guage.)
Take another sip of wine and chop the onions - shallots, if you want to be flash - and the garlic.
Now is also a good time to prepare your tomatoes. Now, if you are using tinned, just open the tin. There is nothing wrong with tinned, as long as you use a decent brand. Napolina, say. Otherwise, chop up your fresh tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes are probably overkill, but you want something decent. Good food is all about the ingredients, so if you can't get anything except the watery tomatoes that the Supermarket sells, get decent (I mean spend more money) tinned. If you are really skint, you can use puree to add tomato flavour to your tomotoes. *shudder*
OK, take another sip of wine and check that the aubergines are parboiled. That means about ten minutes or so after you put them in the boiling water. Maybe fifteen.
Now, scoop out the aubergines. You can score them lengthways and then scoop. Don't worry too much about it, but try not to cut the skin and leave a bit of flesh inside.
Put the skins in the oven on a dish you greaseproofed before you started. Chop the the bits you scooped and start frying them in a thick pan with olive oil. You can flexible about the olive oil, but I don't see any reason to use something worse than Bertolli. Don't worry too much if you are skint.
Fry for a little while. Ten or fifteen minutes. Enough to finish the first bottle, say, and then add the onions and garlic and continue for another five.
Open the second bottle and add your kidney beans. Just a few, though it is up to you. The idea is now to mash the stuff in the pan. So you fry, and add water at times, and mash with a mashing implement. When it is fairly smooth, add the tomatoes and cook for five. Also, salt, pepper, basil (only fresh) or oregano. Lemon or lime works well and add chilli if you like. Fresh is best. Pine nut kernels are something to consider, as are hard bolied eggs (which you needed to do a little while ago).
About a third to half way through the second bottle, you move the stuff from the pan into the aubergine shells. In total they need at least half a hour to 45 mins in the oven, and they should have had a lot of that by now. You may have too much stuff in the pan, so just leave some there. You can top the aubergines with mozzarella, the classic, and maybe a bit of parmesan. A good cheddar works surprisingly well, though. Thats a totally underated cheese, in my opinion.
It'll be done in a jiffy and you can enjoy a well deserved tipple as you wait. Guacamole works well with this, or maybe some simple garlic mushrooms, a salad or roasted peppers. Whatever you fancy, really. |
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