Aubergine spread

As I am not at all loving aubergine (or more funnily 'eggplant'), I haven't been very happy about T. coming home with one. But now that we had the vegetable lying in the fridge, we simply had to use it - I hate throwing food, or frankly, anything, away. What I thought would taste disgusting not so yummy, turned out to be one of my favourite bread spreads so far. Indeed, I always liked oriental breakfasts with hummus, feta cheese etc. and there the aubergine spread was an acceptable side effect. But that homemade one is really so great, I actually would have never thought it's made of aubergine in the first place. I recommend you to try it either for breakfast or as a starter when you're hosting a dinner night or also as a side dish for any kind of salads. If you wonder, why typical oriental spices are rare in this recipe, this is because I totally loathe cumin and (fresh) cilantro, the main oriental spices. You'll never find those two ingredients in my recipes. Do you like them? Because I've heard one either loves or hates those spices!

Love, Julie.

Ingredients:

1 medium aubergine

1/2 white onion

4 garlic cloves

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. sambal oelek (hot chili paste) 

1 tsp. olive oil

3 tbsp. non-fat yoghurt

salt, pepper

hand blender and non-stick pan

1.) Put the aubergine on a plate and steam it for 8min at 750 watt in the microwave, when it's soft and ready cut it in 1inch pieces. After that, chop onion and garlic in small pieces, put olive oil in the pan and put it on the stove at medium high heat.

2.) Roast onion and garlic gently for about 3min, add the chopped up aubergine to the the pan and season it with paprika, oregano, chili, pepper and salt (amount depends on your taste)*. Give it a good stir and sauté it for another 3min.

3.) Put the pan off the stove and cool the mixture for about 30-45 min.

4.) Last step before the spread is ready to serve: blend the cool aubergine mixture and the yoghurt until it has a creamy consistence. Serve it on toasted ciabatta or the bread of your choice . 

Buon appetito!

* If you like to have a more oriental taste, add some cumin or/and cinnamon to the seasoning.