That Friday I woke up at the sound of rain and a dull and grey sky. For a minute I wondered what season we were actually in. It seemed so cold to be summer. The sweet sound of rain early in the morning was like a lullaby. The clouds and greyness outside wanted to fold me into its soft wide arms and let me snuggle in.
Well that is how I woke up, feeling a great pull back to sleep and yet responsibility forcing me to get up and start my day. A nice cup of tea didn’t seem to do the trick either. Like a zombie I went through the morning rituals. On such days it is nice to have some comfort food and a nice yoga session for the body and soul. And that’s exactly what I had in mind. It’s nice to have some ‘me’ time once in a while.
After I feel more like myself I open the fridge to see what ingredients I have and what I can make. Cooking is very therapeutic to me. Putting different ingredients together to create aromas, colours and taste just livens the whole atmosphere. I see lovely aubergines – egg plant, tomatoes and quorn. As we are a vegetarian family, I love trying out any recipe I like but improvising it with quorn or any vegetarian substitute.
Ingredients
Serves 2 Preparation time 30 min Cooking time 30 min
1 large Aubergine
1 small onion
2-3 Minced green chillis
1 tblsp Olive oil
1/2 tsp Dried mixed herbs
2 tblsp sliced black olives
For the Sauce
2 Large tomatoes
1 tin tomato puree
2-3 cloves minced garlic
1/2 tsp Ajwain seeds (Carom seeds)
1 whole green chilli slit in half
5-6 leaves of fresh basil roughly torn
1 tblsp olive oil
1/2 cup Fresh single cream
Method
So I wash the vegetables and slice the aubergines
I then grill them in a panini maker brushing oil on each one
On the side, in a pan, I heat up 1 tlb of olive oil and add 2 cloves of minced garlic and a pinch of ajwain (carom) seeds, about half a teaspoon and let the sweet aroma of garlic fill my kitchen. Tomato purée, made with fresh tomatoes boiled and blended, and shop bought tomato paste is then added . Some fresh basil, salt and pepper to give the sauce a flavour. I cover and let it cook on low heat.
In another pan I sauté 1 small onion, in 1 tablespoon of olive oil, when golden brown I add the quorn mince and sliced olives. I flavour it with salt, pepper, some tomato paste, dried mixed herbs and 2 minced green chillies and leave it on low heat for 10 minutes
In a baking tray I add some of the tomato sauce, and with the aubergine slices, I place some quorn mixture in the center and fold the sides over it and lay it on the tray with the sauce. I do that with all the slices and pour the rest of the sauce over it.
Some fresh cream is poured over the red sauce and baked in 180 degress Celsius for 30 minutes
Served it with olive ciabatta bread and fresh salad.
I certainly felt much better by the time the dish was made.
I vaguely remember reading about a dish similar to this so I thought I would use the same concept but as I couldn’t find the exact recipe I made this one up. It did taste amazing.
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