aubergine puttanesca
a fridge full of past their best vegetables prompted a chopping and roasting session the other day. instead of mixing everything up i decided to keep everything separate – aubergine cubes, courgette batons, tomato quarters and strips of pepper – so that i could use things up in different dishes rather than rely on the ubiquitous, and quickly-boring-if-you-have-as-much-stuff-as-i-did roasted vegetables.
i had a real craving for something spicy and tangy last night so decided to make a puttanesca style dish but used roasted aubergine in place of tomatoes.
it was wonderfully quick to pull together – i fried some sliced garlic, chopped chilli and anchovies (optional if you are veggie) then added chopped capers and kalamata olives plus my aubergines. a glug of white wine and some seasoning were the final touches and, because the aubergines were already cooked, it only took 10 minutes to make.
the result was really good – i love the richness of roasted aubergines and this worked perfectly with the puttanesca flavourings. if it hadn’t been the day before my vegetable box was delivered, and my cupboards were less bare, i’d have added some lemon zest and chopped parsley too.