All of a sudden this dish was all over the place and it was mouthwatering every time I saw it: Aubergine Schnitzel! Such a great idea, it takes bit of time but is really easy to make. Soft and silky aubergine steaks coated in a deep fried crispy layer served on a chickpea stew. You have to try this!
Recipe inspried by @jigalkrant
Aubergine Schnitzel with Chickpea, Red Peppers & Tomato Stew
(12 votes, average: 3.58 out of 5)
Loading...Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 300 g tomatoes, halved
- 1 onion, roughly chopped
- 5-6 garlic cloves, peeled
- 2 aubergines
- 2 cans chickpeas (400 g per can), drained and rinsed
- Pepper & salt
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1 egg, lightly beaten with 1 tsp of cold water
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- ± 500 ml vegetable oil (± 3 cm in a frying pan)
- To serve (optional)
- 1 tbsp sesame seeds
- Feta cheese
- Lemons slices
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
Prep the tomatoes, red peppers, onions and garlic and add to a large baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil and season with pepper and salt.
Wash the aubergines and prick holes all over with a fork so the steam can release while they're roasting. Place these in a separate oven dish.
Place both dishes in the oven and roast for 50 - 60 minutes until the tomatoes are starting to char and the aubergines are staring to wrinkle (the tomato dish might be done sooner than the aubergines).
Transfer the aubergines to a sealable container and let them steam for 10 minutes.
Pour the roasted tomato and pepper mix into a heavy based pot, using an immersion blender, blend until smooth. Taste and season with pepper and salt. Add the drained chickpeas and 1/2 cup of water and bring to s simmer, let cook for 10 - 15 minutes on low heat while you make the aubergines. Add more water if the sauce is too dry.
Remove the aubergines from the container and carefully peel off the skins, they should come of easily after steaming. Be careful, the aubergines are still hot! Make sure to keep the aubergines in tact as much as possible.
In the meantime heat the vegetable oil in a frying pan, ± 3 cm.
Lay the aubergines on a plate and carefully squash them flat using a fork or spatula, making sure not to burst them open.
Divide the flour, eggs (beaten with 1 tsp of cold water) and panko bread crumbs in 3 separate plates and place them in a row next to each other (egg in the middle). If you like you can add some sesame seeds into the panko bread crumbs for extra flavour.
Now it's time to schnitzel! Carefully place an aubergine into the flour and coat on both sides, then into the egg wash, coat on both sides, then into the panko breadcrumbs making sure there are no holes in the crust.
Check if the oil is hot enough by placing the end of a wooden spoon in the oil, if bubbles immediately start bubbling up it's hot enough, f the bubbles are a bit slow to start wait a little while longer.
Using tongs, gently lay the aubergine away from you into the oil and fry until golden and crispy on one side before flipping it over, ± 3 minutes on each side.
When done, transfer to a plate with a paper towel to drain some of the oil and season with salt.
Serve the aubergines draped on the chickpea stew with a squeeze of lemon (and if you like some feta crumbled over the top).
