Spicy Aubergine and Chickpea Pitta
This simple dish is a favourite for Summer: it’s quick to make, travels well and is perfect for a picnic. It also combines lots of foods that help you keep cool in the summer heat: crunchy cucumber and fresh salad leaves with their high content, refreshing lemon juice, and spices which spark the internal heat to help you perspire and cool off. Eat these vegetarian stuffed pittas as hot as you dare.
(Recipe courtesy of Gousto).
– Serves 4 –
INGREDIENTS
- 2 red onions
- 2 aubergine
- 80g harissa paste
- 2 tins of chickpeas
- 2 tomatoes
- 1 cucumber
- 20g parsley
- 1/2 packet feta cheese
- 100g green leaf salad
- 2 lemons
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 80g tahini
- 4 wholemeal pitta
STEP-BY-STEP METHOD
- Start by preparing the red onions. Boil the kettle, finely slice the red onions, put them in a bowl and pour over the hot water. Set aside for later
- Now for the aubergine and chickpeas. Preheat the oven to gas 7/200°C fan, and take out a baking tray. Slice the aubergine into thin rounds, drain the chickpeas, and put them all in a bowl. Add the harissa paste, some olive oil and a pinch of salt and mix everything together. Spread the aubergine and chickpeas onto the tray put in the oven and bake for 20 – 25 minutes.
- Prepare the salad. Chop the tomatoes and cucumber finely, roughly chop the parsley, and place them in a serving bowl. Crumble in the feta cheese, add a drizzle of olive oil, some black pepper and set aside. Now is the time to wash your green salad leaves.
- Next pickle the onions. Drain the sliced red onions in a sieve and run under cold water until cool. Return them to the bowl, add the juice of one lemon, a pinch of salt and a sprinkle of coconut sugar. Stir up to make a quick pickle.
- The tahini dressing is simple to make. Combine the tahini with the juice of one lemon, 4 tbs of boiling water and 2 tsp of olive oil. Stir, season and set aside.
- Finally warm the pitta bread in the oven for 3 to 4 minutes.
- Once the aubergine and the chickpeas are roasted it’s time to assemble everything and eat.
- Slice the pitta bread in half and spread with the tahini dressing. Stuff with the spiced aubergine and chickpeas, the green leaf salad and the quick pickled onion. Serve with the chopped salad on the side.