SPICED AUBERGINES WITH CUCUMBER SALSA

Cooking aubergines in a good amount of decent olive oil and a little water is an easy route to the most buttery results I have ever tasted.

It’s all done in a tray, and you layer the flavours as you cook. The olive oil brings a warm golden richness to the aubergine.

SERVES 4

150ml extra virgin oil, plus 2 tbsp

3 medium aubergines (about 750g), trimmed and sliced lengthways into wedges

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp ground turmeric

2 cloves of garlic, peeled and very thinly sliced

small thumb-size piece of ginger (15g), peeled and sliced into thin matchsticks

1 cucumber, peeled and roughly diced

zest and juice of 1 unwaxed lemon

small bunch of mint, leaves picked

pinch of Aleppo/Turkish chilli flakes, plus extra for sprinkling

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

4 warm flatbreads, to serve

200g greek yogurt (or oat greek yoghurt)

drizzle of pomegranate molasses (or honey) 1 Preheat the oven to 180C/ 160C fan/gas 4. Pour the 150ml extra virgin olive oil into a large, deep roasting tin and put it in the oven to heat.

2 Salt the aubergines generously. Remove the roasting tin, add the cumin, coriander and turmeric, and lay the aubergine wedges in a single layer on top so they sizzle a little. Carefully add 150ml cold water (the oil will spit) and return the dish to the oven for 15 minutes.

3 Remove the tin from the oven and turn the aubergines, so they cook evenly, then scatter the garlic and ginger around them. Return the tin to the oven for a further 15 minutes, or until the ginger and garlic are lightly golden and cooked.

4 For the cucumber salsa, put the diced cucumber in a bowl with the lemon zest and juice and the 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil. Roughly chop the mint leaves and stir into the cucumber with a pinch of the chilli flakes. Season to taste with the sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

5 Divide the warm flatbreads among 4 plates and spoon over the yogurt and aubergine equally. Add a spoonful of cucumber salsa to each plate. Finish with the drizzle of pomegranate molasses (or honey) and the extra chilli flakes. Serve.