Scrabbling around for a starter to serve Friday week at the Garlic Festival lunch–and with three aubergines sitting looking at me expectantly, I got to flicking through some well-thumbed pages.
The idea for rounds came from Antonio Carluccio’s Vegetables cook book.
The key ingredients, doubling as casino counters!
So…
for 2 (on the 2nd, I’m upping the ante and cooking for 22!)
1 largish aubergine–cut across in half inch slices, salted and left to drain for at least an hour
2 ripe tomatoes of similar circumference–sliced a little finer
6oz/150gms feta cheese–crumbled
a few fresh leaves of basil, parsley and mint–chopped together
parmesan cheese–grated
olive oil
salt and pepper
heat the oven to 220C/430F
Cover an oven tray with foil and brush it with oil.
Brush both sides of the aubergine rounds with olive olive and lay them out on the foiled tray.
Place the tray in the uppermost part of the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until they are thoroughly cooked through and soft.
Add the chopped herbs to the feta and using a teaspoon, spread a little on each cooked aubergine round.
Sprinkle the tomato slices with a pinch of salt and little olive oil.
Lay one on each aubergine round and top them off with a pinch of the grated parmesan.
Return the tray to the top of the oven and cook for a further 15 to 20 minutes.
Take them out when the tomato has a melted look and the parmesan has browned a little.
Serve them straight away or at room temperature.
Increase the odds of a wow–with a leaf of basil or other herb–if you have any.
Robin Ellis 
Oh wow, these look marvelous! I’m growing aubergines, and my tomatoes are almost ready, too. We had your pork last night, it was so succulent and delicious.
Robin — i’m still exploring this site and so far haven’t found a recipe for garlic soup. Do you happen to have one? (Maybe it’s in your book, but it hasn’t arrived yet!)
Thanks!
Bonnie
There’s an account of neighbour Alice making it–last year I think. I’ll have a go with the new season’s garlic…
These look wonderful. Definitely going to give these a try! 🙂
You just made my husband’s day!
Hope it works out!
Yummm!! Tomatoes are ready, but gotta buy another eggplant soon! 🙂
Hi Robin
That looks good. Made me think of a Hugh Fearnely-W recipe I tried the other day – lot of trouble but good. Serves 3-4. Don’t try this for 22 – you’ll be at it all day!
500g courgettes, topped and tailed and sliced lengthways in 1mm slices on a mandolin. Discard first and last slice of peel. Salt and pepper the slices and add oil to coat.
Heat griddle pan to v hot and, in batches, cook courgettes 2 mins each side until browned a bit. Lay slices in a dish.
When pan has cooled a bit, add zest of a lemon and some juice, a sliced or squished garlic clove or two, a bit more oil, and swish round – doesn’t really need to cook as such. Tip over courgettes, sprinkle with feta (or mozzarella) and ripped basil (or mint). Serve luke warm.
Bon appetit! And love to you both, Mark.
Date: Wed, 24 Jul 2013 13:51:27 +0000 To: markanderson1001@hotmail.co.uk
Hi Mark!–working on grilled veg for lunch–just salted some courgettes!
This sounds good thanks–summer has finally arrived! My! it was a long tome coming. I saw my first sunflowers of the year Tuesday
“Don’t try this for 22 – you’ll be at it all day!” good advice, I may rue the day (or night!) they do look good though.
Any more tips/ideas feel free–please; we’re
all in this together!
love to you both.
I am about to try Donald Douglass soup from the cookbook.You mention that his Captain McNeil chased you all over Cornwall.You were a little ambivalent about his soldiering skills.I was watching A Bridge too Far and this time he was on the run with Sean Connery thru a Dutch village……injured too….perhaps his comeuppance for the trials he put Ross and Demelza through! I love your cookbook and await the next!!
.
Thanks Janet–Captain Maccers and I are reconciled and have settled for a bucolic amity in foreign parts!! The soup is delicious on a hot day–or any day.
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