Words & Recipe Deliciously Ella
The aubergine rolls are a great healthy recipe on their own, but when these rolls are dunked into the creamy mint and cucumber yogurt dip here, they become something truly special. The contrast of the hot rolls against the smooth cool dip is really amazing. These are definitely among the recipes I recommend you try first from this book; it’s one of the best! The pesto is essentially the same as for Socca Pizza Bites (page 204), sharpened with lemon juice.
Makes 15 bite-sized rolls
Nut-free
Ingredients:
- FOR THE AUBERGINES
2 large aubergines
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and pepper - FOR THE PESTO
40g pine nuts
280g jar of sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained (170g drained weight)
small handful of fresh basil
1 small garlic clove
juice of ½ lemon - FOR THE DIP
½ cucumber
leaves from a few sprigs of fresh mint
250g coconut yogurt
juice of 1 lemon
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 220°C (fan 200°C).
- Slice the aubergines thinly lengthways (use a sharp knife). Drizzle a couple of large baking trays with the olive oil and a sprinkling of salt, lay the aubergine slices evenly across them and place in the oven. Cook for about 20 minutes, until soft and tender enough to roll.
- Meanwhile, make the pesto. Simply place all the ingredients in a food processor and blitz until they form a chunky paste.
- Let the aubergine slices cool for a few minutes, then cut each in half widthways. Put 1 heaped teaspoon of pesto at the top of each, then roll them up. (You can use cocktail sticks to keep them together if you want.)
- To make the dipping sauce, deseed the cucumber by halving it lengthways and running a teaspoon along the centre. Cut it into little cubes (about 5mm), Finely chop the mint. Place the mint and cucumber in a bowl with the yogurt and lemon juice, season to taste and stir. Serve with the aubergine rolls.
Recipe extracted from Deliciously Ella with Friends by Ella Mills, published on26 January by Yellow Kite, £25 © Ella Mills 2017
Photography © Clare Winfield
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