For a delicious, Spanish and green meal, try this vegetarian recipe with aubergines as the main ingredient. They’re highly addictive and go down a treat at Barcelona’s hip vegetarian restaurant Teresa Carles.
Teresa Carles is Barcelona’s hippest green chef, and she runs several restaurants in the city. At her main restaurant, Teresa Carles, she serves these delicious aubergine rolls, which she says are the most popular dish in her kitchen.
People never get tired of eating the stuffed aubergines, Teresa claims, and I’m one of them. Eggplant is one of my favorite vegetables, and I love them with Teresa’s stuffing of mushrooms, bell peppers and cashews. The tomato sauce and mayonnaise, which top the dish, provide a wonderful sweetness, fatness and acidity. If you don’t want to make the tomato sauce yourself, you can use a good ready-made one.
Recipe for eggplant rolls with mushrooms and cashew ricotta
Aubergines
1kg aubergines
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Filling
1onion
500 g white mushrooms
300 g red peppers
Salt and pepper
Olive oil
120 g cashew ricotta (see recipe below)
Garnish
100 g homemade tomato sauce
4 sun-dried tomatoes in oil
60 g plant mayonnaise
Fresh basil
Cashew ricotta
100 g cashew nuts
50 ml water
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tablespoon yeast powder (dried brewer’s yeast is a cheese flavouring agent that can be bought in health food shops)
1 pinch of salt
Soak the cashew nuts in water for three hours. Rinse well and drain.
Blend nuts with water, lemon juice, yeast and salt until soft. Use the finished ricotta immediately, or store it in the fridge.
How to:
Slice the aubergines lengthways. Season the slices with salt and pepper. Drizzle oil over them and bake them in the oven for 10-15 minutes at 180 degrees.
Stuffing: chop the onion and sauté it in a frying pan in a little oil. When the onion is golden, add the finely chopped mushrooms and sauté for five minutes. Then add the finely sliced peppers and fry for a further five minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
Serving: fill each aubergine slice with mushroom and pepper filling and a little cashew ricotta and roll. Pour a little tomato sauce in the middle of a dish or plate and arrange the aubergine rolls over the sauce. Drizzle a little mayonnaise on each roll and garnish with shredded sun-dried tomatoes and basil.
If you fancy more green and tasty Spanish food, try Teresa Carle’s pumpkin and ginger soup with spiced almonds. You will find it here
