I have a terrible habit of buying cookery books, pouring over them hungrily, and then leaving on the shelf, never to be cooked from. I decided that this should change, so I tackled a recipe from the Moro cookbook.I've never been to the restaurant, nor have I tried Moorish food but this recipe was very straight-forward. It also used one of my favourite vegetables: the aubergine. Given the current rising food costs and my seemingly-perpetual poorness, I've been shopping at Lewisham market recently. It really is a god-send; I picked up half a kilo of baby plum tomatoes for 58p, 3 aubergines for £1.20 and three peppers for £1. This was almost half the price of nearby Sainsburys.
So anyway, the recipe.
Aubergine & Red Pepper Salad
Serves 4 as a side
3 aubergines
3 red peppers (I used 2 red and one yellow)
1 garlic clove, crushed
A squeeze of lemon
2 tbsp olive oil
200gr low fat yoghurt
Caramelised butter, about 30gr
A few sprigs of fresh coriander
Salt and pepper
Prick the aubergines and peppers and roast in the oven until the aubergines have collapsed. The aubergines take about 45 mins and the peppers about 25 mins, on gas mark 7. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly. Peel the skin from the peppers and the aubergines. Chop the aubergine flesh roughly and spread out on a plate. Add the olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt and pepper and toss. Deskin the peppers and chop into slices. Drape this over the aubergine. Spoon the yoghurt on one side of the dish.
To make caramelised butter, heat some unsalted butter in a pan. Continue to heat it, swirling it around the pan occasionally, until the sediment in the pan becomes brown, but doesn't burn. Pour this over the dish. Serve with flatbreads.
This was a really delicious introduction to Moorish food. I think that amount of yoghurt was a touch too much, so I might reduce it by half next time. I think a bit of minced lamb with parsley, added to this dish, would make a great meal.
4 comments:
We're exactly the same with cookery books, I read them like novels but usually find myself searching online when I need a recipe.
Moro is lovely, Fred took me there for my birthday last year. They also have a stall outside the restaurant selling lunch specials which I've not tried but it supposed to be very good.
Thanks for the heads-up Ginger. Having a flick through the cookbook I've never had food much like it, so it would be good to try it out at the restaurant.
I think we were reading each other's blogs at the same time! I've often thought about Lewisham market as I work in the hospital there sometimes - it actually looks pretty good and the markets are so much cheaper like you say.
I too have the same bad habits with cookbooks - do you have Moro East? That is awesome. I've actually cooked from that one more than once - shock horror!
I second the suggestion to visit Moro if you haven't yet - it is quite wonderful.
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