A surfeit of smoky sultry aubergine

My housemate called to ask what I am making for supper.  She sounded tired, flustered and in urgent need of comfort food. I knew just the thing.

‘Moutabal!’ I said happily.

‘No,’ she said in a flat, no-nonsense voice. ‘I don’t know what moutabal is and I have no desire to know. I want a supper I can recognise.’

Moutabal is an Arabic dish of smoky oven-baked aubergine pulsed into a creamy dip with garlic, cumin, lemon juice and olive oil. Unfortunately it resembles curdled tofu,  but tastes silky and delicious and cuminy, the kind of exotic and erotic melange you might experience if you were to find yourself in a Middle Eastern bazaar embracing a camel.  I go into raptures from the first mouthful and sometimes spoon on Greek yoghurt or nutty dollops of tahini. Perfect with pitta bread or grilled lamb chops or served up in a mezze with hummous and spicy lamb kofte.

But perhaps not today, even though the vegetable drawer of my fridge is crammed full of blue-black glossy aubergines. I have eaten aubergines on and off for two weeks. They are cheap, ripe and  versatile. Who can resist the aubergine? But  when somebody says they want a recognisable supper dish, they mean they want cottage pie or spaghetti bolognaise or roast chicken with roast potatoes and peas.

So I shall make grilled lamb chops with mashed potatoes and ratatouille. The aubergine  play a leading role in the ratatouille but ratatouille is tasty,  recognisably Mediterranean and not too exotic. I always make quite a lot of ratatouille because it is just as tasty the next day and goes with anything.

Ratatouille

4  medium aubergines
3 red bell peppers (I hold these over a gas flame on a toasting fork and remove the blackened skins but that is optional)
1 kg ripe plum or beefeater tomatoes, blanched and the skins removed

3 skinny courgettes/zucchinis
4 cloves garlic
Herbes de Provence (a mix of fresh or dried rosemary, thyme, parsley, origanum)
olive oil
salt, freshly ground pepper and cayenne

Cut the aubergines into thick 2cm (1 inch) cubes and fry with some oil for 30 minutes, stir regularly. Most aubergines don’t need to be salted and drained to remove bitterness any longer, but use young aubergines

Cut the courgettes into large dice and fry in extra-virgin olive  oil, stir regularly.

Cut the tomatoes into smallish chunks and cook in casserole dish with olive oil, until the juice is reduced.

Fry the onions and garlic over gentle heat in extra-virgin olive oil.

Place all the vegetables without their juices into a casserole dish, pour in 5oz of extra-virgin olive oil and scatter the herbs over. Season with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper and a hint of cayenne or sweet smoked paprika. Stir well and simmer for about 15 minutes.