Slow-roasted tomato & eggplant salad
Roasting tomatoes enhances their flavour, delicious with fried eggplants.
Ingredients
Serves 4
Slow-roasted tomatoes:
6-8 tomatoes
2 tbsp olive oil
Handful fresh thyme
5-6 basil leaves, chopped
2 gloves garlic, finely chopped.
Salad:
2 eggplants, thickly sliced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 cup slow-roasted tomatoes
125 g feta cheese, crumbled
ΒΌ cup pesto
2 tbsp pine nuts, toasted.
Method
Slow-roasted tomatoes:
Preheat oven to 100 C. Rinse & dry tomatoes then slice in half and place in bowl. Add thyme leaves, basil, garlic and olive oil and store gently to combine. Place on a baking tray, season with salt & pepper. Roast in oven for around 2 hours, until tomatoes have collapsed. Set aside to cool, reserve the cooking juices.
Salad:
Heat oil in frypan on medium to high heat. Add slices of eggplant in a single layer. Fry on one side for 3-4 minutes before turning and frying the other side for 3-4 minutes. Remove from pan when cooked and place on a paper towel. Continue to cook in batches. Set aside to cool.
To assemble salad, layer the eggplant, smear with some of the pesto then top with slow roasted tomatoes (add some of the juices from the roasted process if you like). Top with the crumbled feta.
Whisk the remaining pesto with a little olive oil and drizzle over the top of the salad. Scatter with pine nuts. Season to taste.
Tip: Tomatoes and eggplants can be cooked in advance, or the day before, and stored in the fridge. Bring to room temperature before assembling and serving the salad.