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.
