Tomatoes Stuffed with Eggplant Puree and Anchovies
This is a dish I made for the first night of Hanukkah at shakaladka and gloochie. It is from Cooking for Mr. Latte by Amanda Hesser, which is one of my favorite cookbooks.
1 large eggplant
Sea salt
4 tablespoons garlic oil
Freshly ground black pepper
1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped
1/2 cup (about 2 ounces) finely chopped button mushrooms
2 cloves roasted garlic (roast alongside the eggplant to save time)
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
Juice of 1 lemon
6 small plum tomatoes
12 marinated anchovies
1. Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise and score the cut surfaces with a knife (in a lattice pattern). Sprinkle with salt and let sit for 1 hour.
2. Preheat the oven to 350F. Wipe the moisture from the eggplant with paper towels. Line a small baking sheet with foil and place the eggplant on top. Drizzle the eggplant halves with 2 tablespoons garlic oil and sprinkle with pepper. Bake until tender and buttery soft, about 1 hour. Carefully scoop out the seeds from the eggplant and peel away the skin. Place the flesh you are left with in a strainer set over a bowl. Let drain for 1 hour.
3. Heat 1 tablespoon garlic oil in a skillet over medium heat and add the onion and mushrooms. Cover and sweat until tender, about 7 minutes.
4. Scrape the onion mixture into a food processor and drop in the eggplant. Puree, adding the roasted garlic, vinegar, mayonnaise, lemon juice and remaining garlic oil through the feed tube. It should become thick, smooth and light as whipped cream. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Cut the tomatoes in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Fill the halves with the eggplant mixture and top each with an anchovy.
Hors d'oeuvres for 6.
I followed the recipe very closely, but here are some of my comments.
1. I definitely liked removing the seeds from the eggplant, which gave the puree a perfect velvety texture. Quite different from an Israeli salad you could get in a Russian store.
2. Adding roasted garlic is a very interesting idea. I would use more roasted garlic next time. Roast extra garlic first, and then decide how much you want to add.
3. Anchovies compliment the puree perfectly! They give the dish some "meatiness" that the puree itself lacks, so don't skip them. I used white ones from the cheese section in Whole Foods.
4. Plum tomatoes make perfect "boats" for the mixture. Very sturdy.
5. I used proportionally less vinegar.
6. The puree itself was great as a sauce for the latkes!