Stuffed aubergines with peanut sauce
These stuffed aubergines come with a flavour-packed homemade peanut sauce and a crispy peanut and sourdough topping.
Ingredients
For the stuffed aubergines
- 2 small aubergines
- dash olive oil
- 1 banana shallot, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- ½ courgette, finely chopped
- 5 green beans, sliced
- 1 red pepper, finely chopped
- salt, to season
For the topping
For the peanut sauce
- 2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 tbsp chilli sauce
- 1 tbsp finely chopped ginger
- 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp sesame seeds
- 4 tbsp peanut butter
- 1–2 tsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
To serve
- 1 bunch spring onions, tops shredded
- 4 tbsp Thai basil
Method
To make the stuffed aubergines, preheat the oven to 200C/180C/Gas 6.
Prick the aubergines all over with a fork and put them on a lightly greased baking tray the oven for 30–40 minutes to soften.
Remove the aubergines from the oven, cool and cut in half. Scoop the middles out and chop. Reserve the chopped aubergines and the shells.
Heat a little olive oil in a pan and fry the shallot and garlic until softened. Add the courgette, green beans and red pepper. Add the chopped aubergine and season with salt to taste. Spoon or pipe this mixture into the aubergines and put back into the oven for 20 minutes.
To make the topping, heat a little olive oil in a pan and fry the peanuts with the garlic. Remove from the heat and cool. Fry the sourdough crumbs and remove from the heat to cool. Blend together in a food processor or blender and set aside.
To make the peanut sauce, crush the peppercorns in a pestle and mortar and lightly dry fry in a pan until aromatic, then transfer to a bowl. Heat the oil in a pan and tip this over the Szechuan pepper, chilli, ginger and garlic. Add the sesame seeds and stir in the peanut butter, sesame oil (to taste) and soy sauce. Loosen with a little water if necessary and keep warm.
To serve, sprinkle the topping over the stuffed aubergines. Spoon some peanut sauce onto a plate, sprinkle with the chopped spring onions, top with the stuffed aubergines and garnish with Thai basil.