We Love Cooking!:
aubergine

I have to admit that I am a little bit obssessed with bulgar wheat at the moment, which is probably why you're getting a second recipe using it here in two weeks. I have already raved about it's health benifits, but have I mentioned it is so easy to make, and goes with practically everything? Well maybe not everything, but it still is one of my favourite ingredients! Have you tried it yet?

Mediterranean Roast Vegetables with Bulgar Wheat
Roast vegetables are delicious enough to be eaten on their own with just a little sea salt, but pair them up with some bulgar wheat and you have the makings a really delicious meal. You can use any roast veg here really, stuff like carrots, beetroot, or asparagus all work, but I really love the combination of aubergine, courgettes, red onion, and red pepper.

Serves 4-5 generous portions.
200g of bulgar wheat.
1 teaspoon of vegetable bouillon powder.
1 aubergine chopped into bitesize chunks.
2 courgettes chopped into bitesize chunks.
2 red onions chopped into bitesize chunks.
1 red pepper chopped into bitesize chunks.
2 tablespoons of olive oil.
A good pinch of sea salt and ground black pepper.

Place the bulgar wheat in a large bowl and cover with boiling water. Stir through the vegetable bouillon powder, cover with a cloth or cling film and allow to sit for about 30 minutes or until all the water is soaked up. Preheat the oven to 200oC. Add all the prepared vegetables to a large bowl and toss with the oil, sea salt and black pepper. Arrange the vegetables on a large non-stick low sided roasting tray, making sure not to overcrowd it, as this will make the vegetable pieces become soft. Place the roasting tray in the oven for approximately 40 minutes or until the vegetables become slightly scorched on the edges. Remove the tray from the oven and allow to cool. Add the roast vegetable pieces to the bulgar wheat and stir gently to combine. You may want to season with a little extra sea salt and black pepper at this point. Serve the bulgar wheat as tasty side dish or a super lunch box filler.

GOOD MORNING! What a morning! It's one of those days that you just know are gonna GREAT! For you, today I have another Aubergine dish, which is more of a adaptation of the Aubergine Parmigiana I posted about last month. This is more like a full meal version of the original recipe!

I have to admit ever since discovering Aubergine Parmigiana, I have been hooked, and am planning to blitz it at some stage and see if it works as a sauce also, stay tuned.

AUBERGINE PARMIGIANA PASTA BAKE

1. 5 dried tagliatelle balls
2. 2 Large Aubergines
   
3. A good splash of Olive Oil
4. 2 Cloves of Garlic
5. 1 Red Onion sliced thinly in half moons
   
6. 2 400g Tins of Chopped Tomatoes
7. 2 Teaspoons of dried Oregano
8. 2 Teaspoons of fresh parsley finely chopped
9. 1/3 of a cup of grated Parmesan cheese

Slice the aubergine in half length ways and scrape out the flesh, chop into chunks, and leave to one side. Oil and salt the skins and place on a baking tray.

In a large frying pan, fry the garlic in olive oil for about 30 secs then add the onion and fry for another 1 minute. Then add the aubergine chunks and fry till brown. Add the Tomatoes and Oregano and simmer for about 15 mins till reduced.

Add the pasta to the tomato and aubergine mix and make sure everything is combined well, then add the mix to the aubergine skins and top with shavings of a good quality Parmesan cheese.

Then pop the baking tray into the oven for about 30 mins at 200 Celsius.

The mystical Vegetable that is THE AUBERGINE!
Apart from this beautiful and glossy vegetable being so nice to look at, it also has some interesting health benefits, you'll be interested to know! Aubergine's are from the nightshade family which includes vegetables like peppers, tomato's and potato's, in my opinion they have a very distinct taste and texture, but then that's something you should really discover yourself!

AND HERE ARE THE REASONS YOU SHOULD EAT AN AUBERGINE:

1. Right now they are in season and will be until the end of October.
2. Aubergine's contain phytonutrients which apparently have antioxident properties and protect cell membranes. That can only be good right?
3. Aubergine's have been found to have, wait for it, anti cancer and anti cholesterol properties.
4. Aubergine's are extremely low fat, but also extremely absorbant so make sure to roast or grill instead of frying! (I've learned my lesson!)

Now I bet you agree, AN AMAZING VEGETABLE!

Now I am not going to profess a love for aubergines but I ate this dish on a holiday recently in Rome, and was pleasantly surprised with the fresh full flavoured taste! I immediately wanted to know how to recreate it, so when I came home I looked through some Italian cookbooks and unfortunately what I came up with were deep fried or cheese laden version's.

So just the other day I experimented with what I thought was the closest to the recipe I had eaten. I fried the aubergine slices in olive oil but I think it would be easier to grill them in future! So here goes:

Aubergine Parmigiana

1. 2 Large Aubergine slice length ways
2. A good splash of Olive Oil
3. 2 Cloves of Garlic
4. 1 Red Onion
5. 2 400g Tins of Chopped Tomatoes
6. 2 Teaspoons of dried Oregano
7. 2 Teaspoons of fresh parsley finely chopped
8. 1/3 of a cup of grated Parmesan cheese

I read about preparing Aubergine's and there seems to be some sort of argument over whether or not to soak them in salted water before cooking. But I decided to soak them not wanting to go against tradition!

Soak the aubergine slices in salted water for 20 minutes, then remove from the water and pat dry. As I said already I fried the slices but I think it would be far more healthier and less time consuming to grill them till soft. Put the cooked slices to the side.

While the Aubergine slices are soaking, in a saucepan fry the garlic and red onion till soft. Then add the two tins of tomatoes, Oregano and Parsley. Bring the sauce to the boil and leave to simmer for about 15 Min's or until reduced. When the sauce has cooked stir in some salt and pepper to taste and leave to cool.

In a large roasting tin, spread a thin layer of the tomato sauce and place the aubergine slices on top, add more tomato sauce, sprinkle some Parmesan cheese, and repeat the process until you run out.

Bake in a preheated oven at 150 degrees Fahrenheit for about 25 Min's.