Herbed and oven charred aubergine bruschetta with sautéed asparagus

Bruschetta is now on the menu of every small diner in town, but it’s the same old tomato and basil or mushroom and anchovies. I am a big fan of aubergine and love it on my pizzas and lasagnes, so why not on bread? This is a great antipasto dish for dinner parties where you want to spend less time in the kitchen and more time with the gossip girls. Leave them in the oven at a low temperature and serve them as and when you like. No last minute ‘deep frying’ or ‘tossing with the dressing’. It’s fresh, fast and simple (like Donna Hay would say it).

I do make a longer version of this recipe sometimes. And that just involves spreading a layer of tomato salsa on the focaccia before placing the aubergine on it. I usually make the tomato salsa a day in advance; it only develops more flavour overnight with the balsamic vinegar in it (see my recipe for tomato salsa). But keep it simple and try this one first. You can always add and subtract ingredients, depending on what you find at the local grocer’s. Use different combinations of herbs, but not all at once. Use nuts if you like.

This recipe started to take shape when I came to mum’s place and saw this huge bed of sweet Thai basil in the kitchen garden! I just wanted to make something with it, and I think this recipe clearly brings out its beautiful oriental flavour and aroma.

If you multitask (all women know how to do this), you can get this done in as less as 15-20min. Isn’t that real quick?

Prep time: 10min

Cooking time: 25min

Serves: 4 pieces

Ingredients

Focaccia bread, sliced to get rectangular pieces

50g mild cheddar, grated

1 large aubergine, sliced and immersed in ice cold water

For the sautéed asparagus

5-6 stalks asparagus, keep only the top tender half

2tsp olive oil

20g softened salted butter

A pinch of ground black pepper

Salt to taste

Herb-mix for the aubergine (grind coarsely and keep aside)

10 leaves sweet basil

1 sprig rosemary, leaves only

4-5 pitted black olives

½ tsp lime zest

3-4 cloves garlic, peeled

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

A pinch of ground black pepper

Salt to taste

50g sour cream (home-made or bought); to serve

Method

Preheat oven to 150°C.

Marinate the sliced aubergine in the herb-mix for 5-10min. In the meantime, heat olive oil on a skillet and mildly sauté the asparagus stalks with some salt and pepper. Make sure they are nice and crunchy. Keep aside.

On the same skillet, heat some olive oil and cook the marinated aubergine slices. Cook them on both sides, till they are brown and soft (should take about 5-6min). Do not overcook.

Slightly butter the top and sides of the focaccia, place 2 aubergine slices on each piece, top it up with some grated cheddar and bake in a preheated oven for 5-10min. Remove and serve hot with the sautéed asparagus and some sour cream.

Note: To make sour cream at home, use a 60:40 proportion of single cream to milk. Heat the milk till it is warm; add it to the cream kept at room temperature. The final mixture should still be lukewarm (so heat your milk accordingly). Add a tbsp of sour yoghurt to this mixture, stir gently with a spoon, cover and allow to set for 4-6 hours (in summers; 7-9hrs in winters). This process is the same as setting normal yoghurt, which we do everyday at home. To get a thicker sour cream- use whole fat milk, whole fat cream, or just tie up the ready sour cream in a muslin cloth and leave to drain in the refrigerator for 2-3 hours.

Tortilla wraps with Mexican beans, tomato salsa, and jalapeño cream

This is something I love not just to make, but to gorge on as well. It’s healthy, tasty and easy to make. Although the recipe might look cumbersome at first sight, (considering it has so many small elements) the final product is worth all the effort! On a boring weekend when your taste buds tingle for something tangy, spicy and fun, these homemade tortillas are your nirvana.

The tortilla wraps can be easily bought in any grocery store, but I like to make them at home. The homemade ones can be as humble as simple whole wheat tortillas or as elaborate as the ones made with puff pastry dough. If you have a dinner party, go for the elaborate ones; they are tastier and crispier with gorgeously browned grill marks. However, for a more healthy meal, use whole wheat flour.

The recipe for the perfect puff pastry involves ‘practice’ as one basic ingredient. Working with the pastry dough can be tricky, leaving you with a sense of frustration. But I strongly recommend that you at least give it a shot. Refer to my post on the perfect puff pastry for its complete recipe, methodology, and presumptive issues you might face. I have tried to include all my experience in making and perfecting them. I hope you find success with your first attempt!

For the Mexican bean mix, I have used a preserved hot sauce available in gourmet stores called the Zulu sauce. It’s available in a variety of spicy flavours and comes in low heat, medium heat, hot and very hot versions! If you can’t find this sauce, replace it with some lemon juice and pureed jalapeños.



Serves: 6 wraps
Prep time: 20 min
Cooking time: 30-40 min
Cooking pan: Grilled pan (Indian labels include Nirlep, and Prestige)

Ingredients
Tomato salsa
4 medium tomatoes- blanched, peeled and chopped fine
1 large onion chopped fine
Fresh coriander chopped fine
Fresh flat-leaf parsley chopped fine
1 green chilly chopped fine
1½ tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp lemon juice
Zest of half a lemon
1 tsp ground black pepper
3 pods of garlic finely chopped
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Pinch of sugar
Salt to taste

Jalapeño cream
4-5 tbsp Fresh cream
3 tbsp pickled jalapeños chopped fine
½ tsp ground black pepper
3-4 drops Tabasco sauce
Salt to taste

Mexican bean mix
2 cups of cooked kidney beans (add salt while cooking)
½ tsp Ground black pepper
½ tsp Red chilli powder
Fresh coriander chopped fine
Zulu sauce

Stir fried veggies
1 onion chopped finely
Bell peppers chopped finely (red, yellow and green)
3-4 drops Tabasco sauce
½ tsp Ground black pepper
Salt to taste
Pomace or extra virgin olive oil

For the final assembly
Butter
Cheese slices
Lettuce- whole leaves

Method
Salsa sauce: In a bowl, mix the blanched and chopped tomatoes with all other ingredients mentioned above for the salsa sauce. Keep aside.

Jalapeño cream: In a bowl, mix the chopped jalapeños with all the other ingredients mentioned above for the Jalapeño cream. Keep aside.

Mexican bean mix: Mildly mash the cooked kidney beans, and add all the ingredients mentioned above for the mix. Keep aside.

Stir fried veggies: Place a non-stick saucepan on a medium flame and add some pomace olive oil (use extra virgin if you can’t find pomace). Once the oil is hot, add the chopped onions. Fry till golden brown. Add the chopped bell peppers. Stir for a minute. Add ground black pepper, some Tabasco sauce and salt to taste. Do not overcook the vegetables. Remove from heat and keep aside.

The final assembly: Keep your tortilla wraps (round in shape) cooked 3/4ths and ready for assembly at dinner time because this is something that needs to be served hot. If you are using ready-made ones, get them of out of the refrigerator well before dinner time and let them thaw, so they don’t break or crumble while assembling the wrap.

Use a grilled pan instead of a normal one to get the grill marks on the tortillas. Butter the outer side of the tortilla (the side that goes on to the grill) and place it on the grilled pan. On one half of the tortilla, place a whole lettuce leaf. Next, spoon some of the Mexican bean mix on the lettuce leaf. Top it with the stir fry veggies, tomato salsa and jalapeño cream. Place a slice of cheese over the filling and fold the tortilla in half. Once the surface of the tortilla attains golden brown grill marks, remove from heat. It should resemble half a pizza. Cut into 3 triangular pieces, each like you would cut a pizza slice. Serve hot with tortilla chips and some more tomato salsa (for the spice and tang lovers!)



Bench notes
If you can’t find balsamic vinegar, it can easily be omitted from the tomato salsa. For those who can handle some quirkiness, add a dash of red wine (instead of the balsamic vinegar) or some beer to the tomato salsa. Add kitsch to kitchen! Make sure that the salsa is not too runny, as you don’t want it to make the tortilla wet and soggy.

The Mexican kidney beans should be well cooked and soft, such that you can easily mash it with your hands.

The lettuce leaf is used to create a ‘plastic effect’ in the tortilla. This ensures that your tortilla is not soft and soggy before it reaches your guests.

If you don’t have a grill pan, don’t bother too much. This is not going to change the taste of your wrap.

I don’t necessarily preach ‘healthy’, but if you make the tortillas at home with puff pastry dough, you can get away with baking them too. A lot of ovens come with a grilling tray, so you get your grill marks and you get baked tortillas! Win-win! Your guests will be thrilled that you thought about how hard they work to keep in shape!