Musaqa’a Aubergine, chickpea and tomato bake
This flavour packed dish comes from Ottolengi restaurateur and chef Sami Tamimi';s stunning Palestinian cuisine celebrating cookery book Falastin. One Friday night in Febuary 2022 Sami cooked this dish for a special Made In Hackney class with 100 people joining from around the world. All agreed it was delicious.
Ingredients
Instructions
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- Preheat the oven to 220C.
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Use a vegetable peeler to peel away strips of aubergine skin from top to bottom, leaving the aubergines with alternating strips of black skin and white flesh, like a zebra.
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Cut widthways into round slices, 2 centimetres thick, and place in a large bowl.
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Mix well with 75 millilitres of oil, 1 teaspoon salt and plenty of pepper and then spread out on two large parchment, lined baking trays.
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Roast for about 30 minutes, or until completely softened and lightly browned. Remove from the oven and set aside.
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Reduce the oven temperature to 180C.
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Whilst the aubergines are roasting, make the sauce. Add 2 tablespoons of oil to a large sauté pan and place on a medium high heat. Add the onion and cook for about 7 minutes, until softened and lightly browned.
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Add the garlic, chilli, cumin, cinnamon and tomato paste and cook for another minute, or until fragrant. Add the pepper, chickpeas, tinned tomatoes, sugar, 200 millilitres of water, 1¼ teaspoons of salt and a good grind of black pepper.
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Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 18 minutes, or until the peppers have cooked through. Stir through the coriander and remove from the heat.
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Spread out half of the plum tomatoes and half of the roasted aubergine on the base of a large baking dish, about 25 x 20 centimetres. Top with the chickpea mixture and then layer with the remaining tomatoes and aubergines.
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Drizzle with the remaining tablespoon of oil, cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
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Remove the foil and bake for another 20 minutes or until the sauce is bubbling and the tomatoes have completely softened.
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Remove from the oven and leave to cool for about 20 minutes.
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Top with the remaining coriander and serve either warm or at room temperature.
To learn more about Sami and buy a copy of Falastin Falastin (Signed Copy) | Ottolenghi.co.uk | Buy Online
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