Last Saturday we were invited to Leszek and Ewelina’s. There was a lot of good food on their table, 2 types of curry, steamed rice, some chicken for meat lovers, naan bread that made me squeak, as mine is never that good and there were also those beauties. They were already on the table when we arrived, the toothpicks made it easy to pick up and enjoy. They were my favourite thing we have eaten that evening, I asked for a recipe and then also found it on the internet. Just like Leszek said, it is a Georgian dish, veggie, healthy, good for you. Pretty and tasty. I made it last night and ended up scoffing most of it by myself, as husband claimed the texture of aubergines made them ….challenging. Ma che cazzata!! 🙂
Thinly sliced aubergines were first salted and left to sweat for half an hour before being dried off and fried. The stuffing I’ve made a tiny bit differently. The original recipe and the one at Leszek’s used raw walnuts, I simply can’t stop myself from toasting them, there is so much more flavour after 10 minutes of gentle heat! They were then blitzed with a shallot, some garlic ( maybe a bit too much, I decided afterwards), fresh coriander, a pinch of chili and paprika, salt and all this creamed with a good splash of water to make it into a paste. Spread on the aubergine slices, rolled up, stitched with a toothpick and finished off with fresh pomegranate seeds and more fresh coriander. 10 out of 10 for me and I will be making them in a couple of weeks for a planned dinner party. Might play around with a completely different filling.
