Name: Baby aubergines in tomato sauce with anchovy and dill yoghurt
Ingredients: 100g unsalted butter; 2 onions, peeled and thinly sliced (400g); 14 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole (40g); salt and black pepper; 500g baby aubergines, slit open lengthways, but not all the way through, and with stems still attached; 1 tbsp olive oil; 2 tbsp tomato paste; 4 fresh plum tomatoes (800g net weight), blitzed until smooth; 200g cherry tomatoes; 200g greek-style yoghurt; 20g dill, plus a few extra sprigs, to serve; 30g anchovy fillets; 1½ tsp lemon juice; 60g unsalted butter; 1½ tsp cumin seeds, toasted and roughly crushed; 1 tsp chilli flakes

Baby aubergines in tomato sauce with anchovy and dill yoghurt

Main Midweek

Serves 4

Prep 20 min

Cook 1 hr

Baby aubergines are more tender and slightly sweeter than larger ones. This dish is delightful served warm or at room temperature, making it perfect for a summer spread or as a meal on its own. Be sure to accompany it with lots of crusty bread.

Ingredients

100g	unsalted butter
2	onions, peeled and thinly sliced (400g)
14	garlic cloves, peeled and left whole (40g)
	salt and black pepper
500g	baby aubergines, slit open lengthways, but not all the way through, and with stems still attached
1 tbsp	olive oil
2 tbsp	tomato paste
4	fresh plum tomatoes (800g net weight), blitzed until smooth
200g	cherry tomatoes
FOR THE ANCHOVY AND DILL YOGHURT
200g	greek-style yoghurt
20g	dill, plus a few extra sprigs, to serve
30g	anchovy fillets
1½ tsp	lemon juice
FOR THE CUMIN BURNT BUTTER
60g	unsalted butter
1½ tsp	cumin seeds, toasted and roughly crushed
1 tsp	chilli flakes

Method

Heat the oven to its highest setting 240C (220C fan)/475F/gas 9. Put the butter in a medium, ovenproof saucepan on a medium-high heat and, once it’s melted, add the onions, garlic and half a teaspoon of salt, and cook, stirring from time to time, for 25 minutes, until the onions are caramelised.
Meanwhile, toss the aubergines in a medium oven tray with a tablespoon of olive oil and a quarter-teaspoon of salt, then roast for 15 minutes, until partly cooked. Remove from the oven, but leave it turned on.
Stir the tomato paste into the onion pan, cook for five minutes, then stir in the blitzed tomatoes and cook for 10 minutes more. Gently push the aubergines into the sauce, so they’re submerged in it, dot the cherry tomatoes in between the aubergines, then transfer to the oven and bake for 15 minutes, until the tomato skins are blistered.
Put all the ingredients for the anchovy yoghurt in the small bowl of a food processor, blitz until almost smooth – you want a few flecks of green and bits of anchovy – then scrape into a bowl and set to one side.
Now make the cumin butter. Melt the butter in a small saucepan on a medium heat, and leave to cook for three to five minutes, until the solids at the bottom start to brown and smell nutty. Remove from the heat, then stir in the cumin seeds, chilli flakes and an eighth of a teaspoon of salt.
Spoon half the anchovy yoghurt and half the cumin butter all over the aubergines, and save the rest to serve on the side. Scatter with the picked dill and serve warm or at room temperature.