RECIPE :: Aubergine vol-au-vents
I have not had vol-au-vents for a long time so when my friends and I were going to the park for the first time in the year to celebrate the impending springiness of spring, I thought what better thing to make than vol-au-vents. They also make great party food and can be very fun to play and experiment with.
Ingredients
1 batch of puff pastry,
1 medium aubergine,
1tsp of cumin seeds,
6tbsp of olive oil,
1 medium onion (finely chopped),
100g of mushrooms (thinly sliced),
175ml / 6oz of soft silken tofu,
2tsp of lemon juice and
½ tsp of salt.
Method
| 1) |
Slice the aubergine and courgette length ways into long thin slices. |
| 2) |
Heavily salt the aubergines on both sides, place over a wire tray and leave to stand for 20 minutes. After the 20 minutes wash the salt off. |
| 3) |
Pre-heat the oven to gas mark 6 / 200C / 400F. |
| 4) |
Dry fry and crush the cumin seeds. |
| 5) |
Fry the onion with 2tbsp of the olive oil over a low/medium heat for 6 minutes. |
| 6) |
Add the mushrooms and crushed seeds to the pan and fry for a further 4 minutes, then place into a mixing bowl. |
| 7) |
Blend the tofu, lemon juice, salt and the rest of the olive oil together until smooth. Mix with the onions and mushrooms. |
| 8) |
Griddle the aubergine slices over a medium heat for four minutes each side. |
| 9) |
Once the aubergine is cooked chop into 2cm square pieces and mix into the creamy onions. |
| 10) |
Line a mini muffin tray (or its equivalent) with little paper cups and place a ¼ cm thick layer of pastry into the paper cups (bottom and sides). |
| 11) |
Fill the pastry cases with the creamy vegetables and bake for 30 minutes. |
Variation
This recipe is just one of many possibilities, so it is ideal to play with and use things that you like, such as sun dried tomatoes and olives. You need to have some creaminess to it, to help bind them and to maintain the moisture after the cooking is finished so using the tofu and oil blend will give you a good start.
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