Auberginen-Tomaten-Pesto (eggplant and tomato pesto)
Units
Temperature
Servings
Ingredients
Pesto
- 1 eggplant, about 400 g, whole rounded
- 60 g sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained rounded
- 1 garlic clove rounded
- 40 g almonds rounded
- 60 ml olive oil rounded
- 15 ml lemon juice rounded
- to taste fine salt rounded
Method
Method
- Preheat the oven to 220°C (fan). Prick the eggplant a few times with a fork and roast whole on a baking sheet for 30 minutes, until the skin is blistered and blackened in places and the flesh has completely collapsed.
- Let cool enough to handle, then split it open and scoop out the flesh, discarding the skin.
- Blend the eggplant flesh, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic and almonds until mostly smooth, leaving a little texture.
- With the blender running, drizzle in the olive oil and lemon juice. Season with salt.
Notes
- Roast the eggplant until it has genuinely collapsed, not just softened. A partially roasted eggplant blends into a bland, watery paste; a fully collapsed one gives this pesto its smoky depth and body.
- Whole, unpeeled roasting is deliberate. The skin protects the flesh from drying out while it slow-cooks through, and comes away easily once roasted.
- Almonds can be toasted first for extra depth, though it’s not essential.
- It keeps for 5 days in the fridge under a thin layer of olive oil, or freezes well in small portions.
Ingredient substitutions
- Almonds can be walnuts or pine nuts.
- Sun-dried tomatoes in oil can be substituted with rehydrated dried tomatoes plus a little extra olive oil.
- A pinch of smoked paprika reinforces the smoky character if your oven doesn’t achieve much charring.