These aubergine rolls are delicious, easy to make and look beautiful on a serving platter. If you aren’t a fan of goat’s cheese, ricotta or feta would work well too. Almonds go beautifully with this dish, but any other nut would be welcome here, depending on what you have lying around at home! Pomegranate molasses is available from most large supermarkets. In Mediterranean and Middle Eastern cuisine, it is often used in marinades, salad dressings, drinks and sauces, so a bottle of it is a very useful thing to keep in the pantry. Because these aubergine rolls are vegetarian and gluten free they are a great way to provide something delicious that everyone can eat.
Ingredients
- 3 large aubergine, cut lengthwise into ¼ inch slices
- Olive oil, for brushing
- 250g soft goat’s cheese, whipped
- 1 small bunch coriander, finely chopped
- 1 small bunch dill, finely chopped
- 40g blanched or flaked almonds, roughly chopped
- 2 large cloves garlic, crushed
- ½tsp cumin
- ½tsp cayenne pepper
- 100g Greek yoghurt
- 150g pomegranate seeds
Method
Heat a griddle pan over a medium-high heat and line a baking tray with kitchen paper.
Brush each slice of the aubergine with olive oil on both sides. When the griddle pan is hot, griddle the aubergine until cooked through and lightly charred, around 3 mins each side, and drain on the kitchen paper. Let cool to room temperature.
Combine the goat’s cheese with the coriander, dill, nuts, garlic, cayenne pepper and a good pinch of salt and pepper.
Place 1 heaped tbsp of the goat’s cheese mixture along the lower, wider end of each eggplant slice and roll them up around the filling. Place each rolled slice on a serving platter and chill for a minimum 30 mins before serving to help the rolls hold their shape.
Meanwhile, place the yoghurt in a bowl and whisk it with a little water to create a pourable cream consistency and then drizzle it generously over the prepared rolls. Top with a scattering of the pomegranate seeds.
Recipe by Gaia Chanrai for Woman and Home.
Top Tip for making Aubergine Rolls with Goat’s Cheese
Prepare the aubergine rolls as per step 3 and chill them in the fridge if you’d like to make this up to a day in advance, just take them out of the fridge 20 mins before serving.
