From salads to gratins and baklava, here are our 10 best aubergine recipes
Aubergine (eggplant) is wonderful baked, grilled, fried or added to a curry or ratatouille. See below for a few of our favourite recipes.
1. Slow cooked aubergine masala
This beautifully fragrant recipe by Neil Rankin is all about the spices. It's easy to prep, but the slow cooking time adds depth to the flavour, and the cream and butter make it incredibly indulgent.
2. Roasted baby aubergine salad
“One reason I love aubergine is because it can absorb cooking sauces and dressings so well, almost fooling us into believing it is creating those flavours,” says Gurpareet Bains. His salad combines baby aubergines with spices, yoghurt, pomegranate seeds and pistachio nuts.
3. Cheese and aubergine sandwich
This recipe calls for specialist Turkish produce, but it works fine when you substitute with ingredients that are more readily available. Char-grill your aubergine to get a smoky flavour and soft texture.
4. Grilled aubergine with salsa verde
This no-fuss griddle-pan recipe makes the perfect starter to share, or you could use it to create a platter for a dinner party. Ching-He Huang garnishes her spicy salad with fresh enoki mushrooms and chopped coriander (cilantro).
5. Roasted vegetable and cashew nut pizza
Gluten-free, dairy-free and meat-free, this recipe first calls for the roasting aubergine and courgettes for 25 minutes. You could scatter your finished pizza with rocket or basil, depending on which you prefer.
6. Rick Stein's lamb-stuffed aubergines
Oil and salt your halved aubergine and bake in the oven until tender, then make a ragu with minced lamb, red pepper, cumin, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix that with the scooped-out aubergine flesh, fill the skins and sprinkle them with manchego cheese before baking again.
7. Aubergine, courgette and basil gratin
A summer gratin that's great with roast lamb or just a green salad – plus chef Lucas Hollweg also suggests you can eat it cold. You can make the recipe vegan if you substitute the parmesan cheese for a non-dairy alternative.
8. Aubergine with ricotta, parmesan and pepper
Alex MacKay calls this "glamorous comfort food". The aubergine is cut in half lengthways and the flesh is scored with a crisscross pattern before being drizzled with oil and white wine vinegar and roasted.
9. Green chicken curry
Atul Kochhar adapted this Thai recipe by chef David Thompson to suit the Western cook – if you can get hold of apple or pea aubergine then great, otherwise just use one medium aubergine. Be warned, it's very spicy.
10. Davina McCall's stuffed aubergine
The large aubergines in this recipe have the flesh scooped out before the skins are roasted and softened for 20 minutes. Davina describes the filling – which is flavoured with garlic, oregano, lemon zest and chilli flakes – as "tasty and juicy".
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