I’ve been wanting to add more recipes where the vegetable is actually the reason I’m making the dish, rather than something added alongside meat.
Eggplant is particularly good for that because its texture changes so dramatically when it’s cooked properly.
Undercooked eggplant can be firm, spongy and fairly uninteresting. Give it enough heat and time, though, and the inside becomes almost creamy while the cut surface develops plenty of colour.
For this dish, that soft roasted eggplant sits over whipped feta and Greek yoghurt, then gets topped with chickpeas cooked until crisp around the edges with cumin and paprika.
The chickpeas aren’t there simply because this is vegetarian and I felt like it needed a protein. They add a completely different texture against the soft eggplant and whipped feta.
Then there’s red onion, parsley and lemon to cut through everything.
There’s quite a bit happening on the finished plate, but none of the individual components is particularly difficult. Most of the cooking is simply giving the eggplant enough time to become properly soft and browned.
Roasted Eggplant with Whipped Feta, Chickpeas & Lemon
Ingredients
- Roasted Eggplant
- 2 large eggplants about 700–800 g total
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ¾ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- ½ tsp dried oregano
- Crispy Chickpeas
- 400 g can chickpeas drained and rinsed
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- Black pepper
- Whipped Feta
- 150 g feta
- 150 g Greek yoghurt
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- Black pepper
- Garlic Lemon Oil
- 1½ tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 small garlic clove finely grated
- ¼ tsp dried oregano
- Pinch of salt
- To Finish
- ¼ small red onion very thinly sliced
- 2 tbsp roughly chopped flat-leaf parsley
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh mint optional
- Lemon wedges
- Extra virgin olive oil optional
- Chilli flakes optional
Method
- Prepare the eggplant
- Preheat the oven to 220°C conventional / 200°C fan.
- Cut the eggplants in half lengthways.
- Using a small knife, score the flesh in a diamond pattern, cutting fairly deeply without piercing through the skin.
- Brush the cut surfaces with olive oil.
- Season with salt, black pepper and oregano.
- Start cut-side down
- Place the eggplants cut-side down on a lined baking tray.
- Roast for approximately 20 minutes.
- Starting them this way helps trap steam inside while putting the cut surface directly against the hot tray.
- Turn and finish roasting
- Turn the eggplants cut-side up.
- Continue roasting for another 10–15 minutes until the flesh is completely tender and the surface has developed plenty of colour.
- A knife should slide through the thickest section with almost no resistance.
- If the eggplant still feels firm or springy, keep cooking it.
- For this dish, I’d rather take the eggplant slightly further than pull it out too early.
- Make the Crispy Chickpeas
- Dry them properly
- While the eggplant cooks, drain and rinse the chickpeas.
- Spread them over paper towel or a clean tea towel and dry them thoroughly.
- Remove any loose skins if they’re coming away easily, but I wouldn’t spend ten minutes peeling every chickpea.
- Season
- Combine the chickpeas with:
- Olive oil
- Sweet paprika
- Cumin
- Garlic powder
- Salt
- Black pepper
- Toss until evenly coated.
- Roast until crisp
- Spread them over a separate baking tray in a single layer.
- Roast for approximately 20–25 minutes, shaking the tray once or twice.
- They should be browned and crisp around the outside.
- They’ll become slightly firmer as they cool.
- Make the Whipped Feta
- Blend
- Add the feta, Greek yoghurt, olive oil, lemon juice and black pepper to a small food processor.
- Blend until smooth and creamy.
- Scrape down the sides as necessary.
- Depending on your feta and yoghurt, this should take around 1–2 minutes.
- Taste before adding any salt.
- Feta usually provides more than enough.
- Adjust the texture
- If the whipped feta seems extremely thick, add:
- 1 teaspoon water
- and blend again.
- Repeat only if necessary.
- I want it soft enough to spread across the plate, but not so loose that the eggplant disappears into yoghurt.
- Make the Garlic Lemon Oil
- Combine
- Mix the olive oil, lemon juice, grated garlic, oregano and a small pinch of salt.
- Leave it for 5–10 minutes while everything else finishes.
- There’s no honey or sugar in this dressing.
- The eggplant becomes naturally sweeter as it roasts, and the feta already provides plenty of richness. I want the lemon to stay sharp enough to cut through both.
- Assemble
- Start with the whipped feta
- Spread the whipped feta generously across a large serving plate.
- Don’t cover the entire plate in a thin layer. Keep it reasonably thick underneath where the eggplant will sit.
- Add the eggplant
- Place the roasted eggplant halves over the whipped feta, cut-side up.
- You can serve them as four individual halves or arrange everything together on one large platter.
- Add the chickpeas
- Scatter the crispy chickpeas generously over and around the eggplant.
- Some will inevitably fall into the whipped feta.
- That’s exactly where I want them.
- Finish
- Scatter over the thinly sliced red onion, parsley and optional mint.
- Spoon the garlic-lemon oil over the eggplant.
- Finish with black pepper and optional chilli flakes.
- Serve with lemon wedges.
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