Eggplant With Tomato Sauce & Pine Nuts

By Published On: March 22nd, 2019

Try these creamy, tangy and crunchy little bites of goodness as part of your next Middle Eastern inspired feast. Wonderfully soft eggplant with a tangy tomato sauce, cooling yoghurt and crunchy pinenuts. They’re the perfect little bite! Learn how…

Eggplant With Tomato Sauce & Pine Nuts

My Eggplant With Tomato Sauce & Pine Nuts a great accompaniment to any Mediterranean inspired feast. My favourite way to eat is to create a whole bunch of dishes and leave them in the centre, family style, for all to mix and match. Middle Eastern and Mediterranean mezze style food is the best way to eat. Everyone gets something they love, and you can east as little (or as much) as you like.

I like nothing more than creating a huge array of plant-based dishes to accompany a simply grilled meat or fish. I'm not at the point of following 100% plan-based diet, but am certainly tipping the balance in favour of delicious vegetable side dishes.

Creamy Eggplant with A rich Spiced Tomato Sauce

These eggplant slices are cooked to perfection, leaving a creamy texture, effortlessly married with a sweet, subtly aniseed spiced tomato sauce. The pine nuts add their distinctive nuttiness and crunch and the whole affair finished with a little sour yoghurt and grassy parsley. Perfection!

A simple Mediterranean meal plan

As I mentioned earlier, I love nothing more than creating a selection of dishes for the table. All interchangeable so that each works with the next. My simple meal plan will ensure everyone around the table gets to sample delicious mouthful after mouthful. Serve everything at one time so that you can be part of the fun too. This should serve 4-8 human people!

Flatbreads, Pita Breads or just some crusty sliced bread

Olives

Black Hummus

Turkish Bean Salad (piyaz)

Tomato Salad

Fattoush

Spanish Chicken Skewers with Fino Sherry

Baba Ghanoush

Turkish Beetroot & Yoghurt Dip

Eggplant with Tomato Sauce & Pine Nuts

How to make my Eggplant With Tomato Sauce & Pinenuts

Eggplant With Tomato Sauce & Pine nuts

Eggplant With Tomato Sauce & Pinenuts

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4.50 from 2 votes
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Recipe by Lee
Course Appetizer, Side Dish
Cuisine Mediterranean
Prep Time10 minutes
Cook Time30 minutes
Resting time1 hour
Total Time40 minutes
Servings (adjustable) 4
Calories (per serving) | 278

Ingredients

  • 1 large eggplant (aubergine) cut into thick slices
  • 1 small red onion Finely diced (about 1/2 cup)
  • 2 garlic cloves finely chopped
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1 tsp aniseed seeds (or fennel seeds)
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • 14 oz can tomatoes (400g)
  • salt & pepper
  • 4 tbsp Greek yoghurt plain
  • 4 tbsp pine nuts
  • 2 tbsp flat-leaf parsley chopped

Instructions

To make the tomato sauce

  • Heat a large saucepan with 2 tablespoons of the oil over a moderate heat until just hot, then add the aniseed seeds and sizzle for 10 seconds until aromatic. Add the onion and garlic and fry gently for 4-5 minutes until soft and golden. 
  • Add the cumin, paprika and cinnamon and stir for 20 seconds before adding the tomatoes – fill the can half full of water then add this to the pan and stir in. Season with salt & pepper then bring to a simmer and reduce the heat to low. Simmer gently for 20 minutes until reduced and quite thick – like jam. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature for 1 hour.

To make the eggplant

  • Heat half the remaining oil over a moderate heat in a large frying pan – large enough to hold the eggplant in one layer (you may have to do it in batches). When hot, place in the eggplant and fry on one side for about 8 minutes, until golden brown and soft. Turn over, add a little more oil if needed and cook until brown on this side. Remove onto paper towels and blot to catch the excess oil. Repeat with the remaining eggplant. Leave to cool completely. 
  • With the pan still hot, add the pine nuts and cook for about 2-3 minutes until lightly golden. Drain and cool on paper towels.

Arranging the dish

  • When everything is at room temperature, arrange the eggplant in one layer on a platter. Add a spoon of tomato sauce on top, then a small dollop of yoghurt then sprinkle with parsley and pine nuts. Serve!

Notes

Mix up the herbs you scatter over - I'll often mirror the aniseed flavour with some fresh tarragon or use fresh oregano or marjoram, a personal favourite!

Nutrition

Calories: 278kcal (14%) | Carbohydrates: 20g (7%) | Protein: 6g (12%) | Fat: 21g (32%) | Saturated Fat: 3g (19%) | Cholesterol: 1mg | Sodium: 144mg (6%) | Potassium: 684mg (20%) | Fiber: 7g (29%) | Sugar: 11g (12%) | Vitamin A: 654IU (13%) | Vitamin C: 17mg (21%) | Calcium: 84mg (8%) | Iron: 3mg (17%)
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Eggplant With Tomato Sauce & Pine nuts

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