Musaqa’a Aubergine, chickpea and tomato bake

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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

• 5 medium aubergines (1.25kg) 

• 120ml olive oil 

• 1 onion, finely chopped (160g)

• 6 garlic cloves, crushed

• 1 teaspoon chilli flakes

• 1 teaspoon ground cumin

• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

• 1½ teaspoon tomato paste

• 2 green peppers, deseeded and cut into 3cm chunks (200g) 

• 1 tin chickpeas, drained (240g)

• 1 tin chopped tomatoes

• 1½  teaspoon caster sugar

• 15g coriander, roughly chopped, plus 5g extra to serve 

• 4 plum tomatoes, trimmed and sliced into 1½ cm-thick rounds (350g)

• Salt and black pepper

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 220C.
2. 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.
3. Cut widthways into round slices, 2 centimetres thick, and place in a large bowl.
4. 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.
5. Roast for about 30 minutes, or until completely softened and lightly browned. Remove from the oven and set aside.
6. Reduce the oven temperature to 180C.
7. 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.
8. 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.
9. 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.
10. 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.
11. Drizzle with the remaining tablespoon of oil, cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.
12. Remove the foil and bake for another 20 minutes or until the sauce is bubbling and the tomatoes have completely softened.
13. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for about 20 minutes.
14. 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