I grew up eating an amazing ‘sandwich’ that consisted of a pita pocket filled with eggplant, potato and eggs. This is a salad version of that delicious dish. It may seem like we’re using a lot of oil here to fry an eggplant to use in one dish, but you can definitely reuse the frying oil.
Ingredients
- 1 large eggplant, peeled and cut into 3cm cubes
- sea salt and cracked black pepper, to taste
- 1 litre (4 cups) vegetable or rice bran oil, for deep-frying
- 300g cherry tomatoes, preferably in a mix of colours, cut in half
- 1 bunch of flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 50ml olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
- 200g kipfler potatoes, boiled and cut into big chunks
- 3 soft-boiled eggs (note follows), halved
- 6 jalapeno peppers, thinly sliced
- 4 pickled cucumbers, thinly sliced.
TAHINI GARLIC DRESSING
- 100g tahini
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled
- Juice of ½ lemon,
- 100ml water
- sea salt and cracked black pepper, to taste.
Method
Place the eggplant in a colander. Sprinkle with salt and set aside for 45 minutes.
Rinse well and pat dry. In a large saucepan, heat the oil to 170°C.
To test if the oil is hot enough, drop in a cube of bread; if it turns golden brown in 20 seconds, you are good to start cooking.
Working in batches, so the oil stays hot, fry the eggplant for about 2–3 minutes on each side, until nicely browned. Set aside to drain on paper towel.
Toss the cherry tomatoes in a mixing bowl with the parsley, lemon juice and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
Combine all the tahini dressing ingredients in a blender, until smooth, then set aside. To assemble the salad, arrange the eggplant and potatoes on a large platter.
Top with the tomato mixture, then the eggs, jalapeno and pickled cucumbers.
Drizzle with the dressing and extra virgin olive oil and serve straight away or at room temperature.
CHEF TIPS FOR THE BEST BOILED EGGS
Eggs are a great form of protein and can be enjoyed in any meal of the day. Tasty, reasonably affordable and readily available, they’re the perfect addition to your salads. Making the perfect jammy boiled eggs requires following a few rules to a T, which I will describe here more as a story than a recipe.
You’ll need a large saucepan half-filled with almost boiling water, large (70g) free-range eggs at room temperature, a timer and a large bowl of cold iced water to bring the eggs to a cold temperature fast.
With the help of a large slotted spoon, carefully lower four eggs into the boiling water. Cook for exactly 7½ minutes. Transfer the eggs to the iced water bath and leave for about 10 minutes, until cold, then peel the eggs and use as desired.
It’s always great having a few jammy eggs in the fridge to add to different meals. I like to peel the eggs and store them in water in a covered container so they don’t dry out. The container doesn’t necessarily need to be airtight. Kept refrigerated in this way, they can keep for up to 5 days.
Recipe by: Michael Rantissi & Kristy Frawley
Serves 4.
