[Wo]Man cannot live by hummus alone....
Hence the need to share this wonderfully refreshing, tasty snack with you - perfect either for lunch, supper or as a starter for a dinner party. Let modern-day kitchen equipment do the hard work for you and it becomes super easy to make!
Be gone with you hummus I say.... (well until next week anyway...)
Chantal xx
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| smokey aubergine dip with golden garlic parlsey flatbreads |
[serves 2-4 as a snack or light lunch, 8 as a starter to a meal, + extra dough for 4-8 more flatbreads or 2-4 small bread rolls]
Kitchen stuff you'll need: oven proof dish, 2 oven trays, food blender, food mixer with dough hook attached, lemon juicer + strainer for pips, small jug, pastry brush, dessert spoon, measuring spoons, large bowl, sharp knives, chopping board, rolling pin.
Gather
Dip
2 aubergines
100ml plain soya yoghurt
juice of half a lemon
1 tsp ground cumin (OR harissa paste OR smoked paprika)
1 clove of garlic - crushed (or 1 tsp garlic puree)
1 green chilli chopped (I used half a very large jalapeno - seeds in)
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
finely chopped parsley, fruity extra virgin olive oil and pomegranate seeds to serve
Flatbreads
500g strong white flour
7g sachet dry fast action yeast
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp olive oil
300ml warm water
extra flour for dusting your work surface
extra flour for dusting your work surface
3 tbsp vegan sunflower margarine
1 tsp garlic puree (or 1 clove of garlic grated through a microplane grater)
1/2 large bunch of flat leaf parsley - finely chopped
Create
The order of this method is the one that I use to ensure I can serve the dip and flatbreads warm from being freshly cooked at the same time.
1. Place the flour into your mixer bowl, salt one side, yeast the other, oil in the middle and pour over the warm water. Mix on a low speed with the dough hook attachment for 10 minutes.
2. The dough should be smooth and elastic and spring back when you press a finger into it. Lightly cover it in the bowl with oiled cling film, set your oven to 200C / 180C fan and leave the dough nearby where it's warm.
3. Prick the skins of the aubergines with the tip of a sharp knife and place them in a baking tray and into the top of the oven for 30 minutes, or until soft and wrinkly.
4. While your dough is proving and your aubergines are baking, prepare all of your other ingredients - add all of the other dip ingredients to your blender and melt your margarine & mix with the garlic and herbs.
5. If you've bought a whole pomegranate rather than a pack of ready picked seeds, then now's the time to try that cute little trick of cutting it in half and holding the cut half in the palm of your hand and tapping the back of the skin, hard, with a spoon. The seeds should fall out into your hand (ideally oyu need a very ripe fruit). But do this over a large bowl, as the seeds and juice can can go everywhere!
6. Once your aubergines are out and cooling, place two baking trays in the oven and crank up the heat to 220C / 200C fan.
7. Take your dough out of the bowl and for flatbreads cut into 12 pieces (best done half, half again then each piece into 3).
8. Roll out each piece to about 2-4ml thickness (*cheat alert - I use an adjustable Joseph Joseph rolling pin - but don't have the 4ml disc - which would be good). I make these quite thin as I like them a little crispy - thicker will make a doughier flatbread and you'll need to bake them for longer.
9. Place 2 or 3 breads on each baking tray and brush liberally with the melted garlic/parsley margarine.
10. Bake the flatbreads for about 8-10 minutes or until pale golden and 'bubbling'.
11. Meanwhile hold each aubergine by the stalk, cut in half lengthways and scrape out the flesh with a dessert spoon. Add this to the yoghurt and seasonings and blitz until the dip is fairly smooth (I think a bit of texture is good). Taste, season and reblitz quickly until you're happy with the flavour.
12. If you need more flatbreads to serve, make a second batch!
1. Place the flour into your mixer bowl, salt one side, yeast the other, oil in the middle and pour over the warm water. Mix on a low speed with the dough hook attachment for 10 minutes.
2. The dough should be smooth and elastic and spring back when you press a finger into it. Lightly cover it in the bowl with oiled cling film, set your oven to 200C / 180C fan and leave the dough nearby where it's warm.
3. Prick the skins of the aubergines with the tip of a sharp knife and place them in a baking tray and into the top of the oven for 30 minutes, or until soft and wrinkly.
4. While your dough is proving and your aubergines are baking, prepare all of your other ingredients - add all of the other dip ingredients to your blender and melt your margarine & mix with the garlic and herbs.
5. If you've bought a whole pomegranate rather than a pack of ready picked seeds, then now's the time to try that cute little trick of cutting it in half and holding the cut half in the palm of your hand and tapping the back of the skin, hard, with a spoon. The seeds should fall out into your hand (ideally oyu need a very ripe fruit). But do this over a large bowl, as the seeds and juice can can go everywhere!
6. Once your aubergines are out and cooling, place two baking trays in the oven and crank up the heat to 220C / 200C fan.
7. Take your dough out of the bowl and for flatbreads cut into 12 pieces (best done half, half again then each piece into 3).
8. Roll out each piece to about 2-4ml thickness (*cheat alert - I use an adjustable Joseph Joseph rolling pin - but don't have the 4ml disc - which would be good). I make these quite thin as I like them a little crispy - thicker will make a doughier flatbread and you'll need to bake them for longer.
9. Place 2 or 3 breads on each baking tray and brush liberally with the melted garlic/parsley margarine.
10. Bake the flatbreads for about 8-10 minutes or until pale golden and 'bubbling'.
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| golden garlic parsley flatbreads delicious straight out of the oven! |
11. Meanwhile hold each aubergine by the stalk, cut in half lengthways and scrape out the flesh with a dessert spoon. Add this to the yoghurt and seasonings and blitz until the dip is fairly smooth (I think a bit of texture is good). Taste, season and reblitz quickly until you're happy with the flavour.
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| scrape out the baked aubergine flesh with a dessert spoon |
12. If you need more flatbreads to serve, make a second batch!
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| you can freeze the remaining dough to make bread rolls or more flatbreads later |
Enjoy!
You can either chill this dip or eat it warm, as I prefer to do. Divide it into the bowls you're using and drizzle over some of the extra virgin olive oil - a nice fruity flavoured one is lovely. Then add a spoonful of pomegranate seeds on top and a pinch or two of parsley. A rose (yes, rose) wine is lovely.
This simple dish soon removes the compulsive, obsessive relationship you used to have with something called hummus, to the dim and distant past....
Bonus info:
This simple dish soon removes the compulsive, obsessive relationship you used to have with something called hummus, to the dim and distant past....
Aubergines are a powerhouse of nutrients and antioxidants that have a whole range of positive effects on your health and well-being. Ladies - they are good for PMT/S too - hurrah! And out of interest I have been eating them quite often at the moment and my PMT was miles better this month (no people got harmed anyway, which was a breakthrough) so perhaps something to try if you suffer, as I do, with severe symptoms. You can read some more info here.
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