Aubergine caviar flat breads, allotment salad + dukkah
Recipe by Matt Noonan
At Bellord & Brown we are lucky to work with some amazing restaurants and even more talented chefs, Matt Noonan head chef of the Black Rat in Winchester, showed us this delicious recipe using some local aubergines.
Aubergine caviar
Heat a heavy based pan for a few minutes until hot. Add the aubergines to the dry pan and cook slowly turning every so often until very soft and tender, about 20-30 minutes depending on the size. The aim is have an almost confit like texture to the flesh and blistered charred skin.
Let the aubergines cool enough so they can easily be handled. Cut them in half lengthways and scrape out the flesh into a sauce pan, don't worry if you have a few bits of the skin in there too, they add a lovely smokiness. Add a pinch of smoked Dorset sea salt, a pinch of caster sugar and a dash or two of sherry vinegar. Place over a low heat and cook gently until most of the water has evaporated away. You should have a thick tasty mess with the viscosity of hummus. With a wooden spoon roughly "chop" it all in the pan and check the seasoning adding more salt and vinegar to taste. Set aside while you make the salad.
Salad
For the salad you can use any raw vegetable or leaf you like. The secret to success is salt, fat and acid! Here we have dressed our salad with the zest and juice of lime, cold pressed rapeseed oil and more of the smoked Dorset sea salt. This is the holy trinity of flavour for any salad regardless of it's content. For our salad we raided our veg store and used the following; carrot, beetroot, cucumber, radishes, spinach, fresh chilli, peppers, New forest fine beans, spring onions as well as more of the aubergine that we just seasoned and chargrilled.
Flat breads
140g white flour
140g wholemeal flour
Pinch salt
180g hot water
2 tbsp rapeseed oil
Mix all ingredients together and knead for 5 minutes until smooth. Divide into 10 balls and cover with a damp cloth.
Roll out thinly and cook for 30 seconds on each side in a hot char grill. Brush with melted butter or rapeseed oil and wrap in a tea towel whilst you cook the rest.
Dukkah
1 tbsp cumin seed
1 tbsp fennel seed
1 tbsp pink peppercorn
1 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tbsp black sesame seeds
2 tbsp pumpkin seed
2 tbsp hazelnuts
1 tsp smoked Dorset sea salt
Place all ingredients on tray and roast for 20 minutes at 110C. Blitz slightly to resemble coarsely ground pepper.
