Eggplant with nuts - a combination of these two products brings back memories of Caucasian cuisine, especially Georgian. For which is characterized by a large number of vegetable dishes, most of which are prepared from eggplant. They are served both separately and with a combination of various seasonings and sauces.
Eggplant with nuts - general principles and methods of cooking
The basis of many sauces are nuts - hazelnuts, hazelnut or almonds, but the undisputed leader is walnuts. They are added to soups, meat dishes, hot and cold appetizers, pastries. And, of course, vegetables are perfectly combined with nuts, for example, eggplants. Eggplant - nut dishes and snacks exist innumerable, which not only will be able to revive and diversify any table, but also will appeal to many gourmets.
Eggplant with nuts - food preparation
The two main components of all recipes are nuts and eggplants. Nuts require pre-grinding. This can be done either in a blender or with a meat grinder. Often, along with the nuts, other ingredients are also ground at the same time - herbs and garlic. To prepare eggplants, it is necessary to stand them for some time in salted water (20-30 minutes) before sauteing them, then squeeze them. After this treatment, eggplants during frying will absorb much less oil and the dish will turn out not so fat, and there will be no overrun of the oil itself.
Eggplant with nuts - the best recipes
Recipe 1: Stuffed Eggplant with Nuts
Very interesting recipe. A dish unusual and tasty, it will be quite appropriate on the holiday table. The original taste of eggplants gives cheese and sour cream, mixed with spices and nuts. Prepares easily and quickly.
Ingredients: 3-4 eggplants, sour cream- 200 g, salt, 150–050 g of hard cheese, peeled nuts 1 part-time cup, spices — 2 pinches (Italian Herbs, Provencal herbs, or others, can mix dry basil, mint and parsley). Method of preparation
Eggplant cut across into 3-4 pieces, along with the peel, to get the bars height of about 4 cm. Put them in hot water for 20 minutes. Then drain the water, dry the eggplants and cut the core with a sharp knife or spoon to make small cups. It is necessary to make the notches carefully so as not to cut through the walls or the bottom.
Peel walnuts, grind in a blender, meat grinder or manually (using a mortar and pestle).
Finely grate cheese and mix with sour cream and nut mass. Add spices, herbs to cheese cream and mix.
Eggplant cups rub from the inside with salt and fill to the brim with stuffing. Grease a baking sheet, place the eggplants there and bake in a preheated oven for about half an hour at 180 ° C until the top layer is reddened. It can be served hot or cold as a separate dish or with any side dish.
If there is no hard cheese on hand, you can replace it with cheese, feta, inexpensive processed cheese, such as Friendship, or fat cottage cheese.
Recipe 2: Pkhali: Eggplant with Nuts
There are a great many recipes for phali, each Georgian hostess is trying to bring something new and different to the composition. Therefore, the recipes may differ from each other dramatically, but one thing is sure, if there are eggplants, nuts and pomegranate seeds there, then this is undoubtedly phali.
Ingredients: 3 or 4 eggplants, 1 onion, grenade and garlic head (if there is, better young), a bunch of cilantro, 100g of walnuts, peeled, salt, ground - coriander, red pepper and hops - suneli pinch, white wine vinegar - 3 tbsp., flour (for breading), vegetable oil (for roasting).
Method of preparation
Eggplant cut into bars - first along the long strips, and then across 2 or 3 parts (the skin can be peeled or left, if it is young fruit). Roll the eggplant sticks in flour and fry until soft. Let the oil drain. Pomegranate to disassemble for grain. Peel the onion and garlic, chop it and put it in a blender bowl, add cilantro and nuts there, to taste with salt, spices and pour vinegar. Grind until smooth. If it is thickish, dilute with a small amount of cold boiled water.
Put eggplants in a dish, add nut and vegetable mass, mix. Place pomegranate seeds on top and place in the refrigerator for impregnation for at least one hour.
Recipe 3: Eggplant Rolls
Cooking these rolls is easy. But the ease of cooking does not affect the taste: from the table, this appetizer disappears among the first.
Ingredients: 4 eggplants, 1 large clove of garlic, 200 g of walnuts (peeled), salt, 2-3 tbsp. mayonnaise, a bunch of greens (parsley, cilantro or dill - to your taste), 1 tsp. no ground coriander, vegetable oil (for frying).
Method of preparation
Eggplants are not peeled, cut into longitudinal slices no more than 5 mm thick. Fry, salting on both sides. Allow to cool. So that when frying eggplants absorb less oil, they must first be soaked in salted water for about 20 minutes, then dried (pressed by hand) and fry.
Twist the greens and nuts in the meat grinder, add the remaining ingredients, chop the garlic (finely with a grater or a garlic press). Mix thoroughly, salt is not necessary, because eggplant while frying salted. The mass should have a rather thick consistency.
Put a teaspoon of filling with a slide on the edge of an eggplant slice and roll it up. Put on a plate, decorate if desired. Yield - 20-25 pieces of rolls.
Alternatively, you can roll a small piece of fresh tomato in a roll along with the filling.
Recipe 4: Satsivi Eggplants
Baked eggplants are tasty by themselves, and the addition of the sauce with nuts, herbs and garlic makes food simply divine. This appetizer is served cold. It is perfect for a feast or daily diet. Ingredients: 4 eggplants, 1 cup of nuts (walnuts), 4 sprigs of celery with greens (petioles), 1 head of garlic and onion, 50 g of plums. oil, white wine vinegar - 4 tbsp. l., salt, spices: cloves, hops-suneli, cinnamon, vegetable oil.
Method of preparation:
For this recipe, it is better to take young fruits, no more than 12-15 centimeters. Make a deep longitudinal section of the full length (this is the future pocket for the filling).
Eggplants can be boiled in salted water, but it is best to bake in the oven or microwave oven with green tails. Spread them with vegetable oil and the tail, too, so as not to burn. In the microwave, they are baked for about 8 minutes (at full capacity).
Celery sprigs boil (pre-remove green leaves) for 10 minutes until soft.
In a blender, chop together nuts, green celery leaves, garlic, 1-2 pcs. cloves, salt, cinnamon (on the tip of a knife). Add white wine vinegar (can be replaced with pomegranate juice) and mix thoroughly.
Heat the butter (creamy with vegetable) in a pan and fry the finely chopped onion until soft, add a nut dressing to it and stew for about 10 minutes. The mass should get thick. If it is watery, it is necessary to evaporate excess moisture.
From the eggplant, through the incision, remove part of the pulp, fill the pocket with a nut mass, wrap with a sprig of celery and fold into a deep plate. If there is an extra nutty sauce, pour the eggplants on top and refrigerate for impregnation. Snacks are served cold on the second day. Satsivi eggplants will make a perfect pair with a glass of red wine, preferably semi-sweet.
