Name: Jacket potatoes with aubergine and green tahini
Ingredients: 4 large baking potatoes, pricked a few times with a fork; 1½ tsp olive oil; mango chutney (or amba sauce), to serve; salt and black pepper; 1 tbsp caster sugar; ½ tsp whole black peppercorns; 125ml water; 125ml white wine vinegar; 200g red cabbage, thinly sliced; 850g aubergines (2–4, depending on size); 60ml olive oil; 1 tsp ground cumin; ½ tsp ground turmeric; 15g mint leaves, plus a few extra to serve; 25g parsley leaves; 2 garlic cloves, peeled and left whole; 1 tsp ground cumin; 1 green chilli, deseeded; 50ml lemon juice; 150g tahini; 100ml cold water

Jacket potatoes with aubergine and green tahini

Main Comfort

Serves 4

Featured in

We set ourselves a challenge with this recipe. Could we make it as rich and comforting as jacket potatoes tend to be – largely due to the amount of grated Cheddar and butter they have in them – at the same time as keeping it vegan? Thanks to tahini, we could! It’s such a naturally ‘creamy’ sauce: a real friend to those who want a rich addition to vegan food. There is something of a sabih about this – the pita sandwich filled with roasted cubes of aubergine that Yotam grew up on – which doubles down on the comfort.

Watch Peggy Gou and Yotam cooking the recipe

Ingredients

4	large baking potatoes, pricked a few times with a fork
1½ tsp	olive oil
	mango chutney (or amba sauce), to serve
	salt and black pepper
QUICK-PICKLED RED CABBAGE
1 tbsp	caster sugar
½ tsp	whole black peppercorns
125ml	water
125ml	white wine vinegar
200g	red cabbage, thinly sliced
AUBERGINES
850g	aubergines (2–4, depending on size)
60ml	olive oil
1 tsp	ground cumin
½ tsp	ground turmeric
GREEN TAHINI SAUCE
15g	mint leaves, plus a few extra to serve
25g	parsley leaves
2	garlic cloves, peeled and left whole
1 tsp	ground cumin
1	green chilli, deseeded
50ml	lemon juice
150g	tahini
100ml	cold water

Method

First pickle the cabbage. Put the sugar, peppercorns and water into a small saucepan along with 2 teaspoons of salt. Bring to a simmer on a medium-low heat and simmer for a minute, stirring. Remove from the heat and set aside for 10 minutes. Strain into a medium bowl (the peppercorns can be discarded) and add the vinegar. Add the cabbage, submerge, then cover and keep in the fridge. This can be made up to 3 days ahead.
Preheat the oven to 200°C fan.
Place the potatoes on a lined baking tray and dribble over the oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and place on a low shelf in the oven. Bake for 1–1¼ hours, until the potatoes are cooked through and their skin is nicely wrinkled.
In the meantime, using a vegetable peeler, peel the aubergines from top to bottom, in alternate strips, so that they look like a zebra. Cut into roughly 3cm cubes and place in a large bowl, along with the oil, cumin, turmeric, 1 teaspoon of salt and some pepper. Toss, then spread out on a parchment-lined tray. Place on the top shelf of the oven and roast for 40 minutes, stirring once or twice, until golden brown.
To make the green tahini sauce, put all the ingredients into a blender, along with 1 teaspoon of salt and some pepper. Blend until smooth and transfer to a bowl.
When the potatoes are cooked, cut a large X in the middle of each one. Using a clean tea towel, squeeze the potato from the bottom to open up the cross. Spoon a large dollop of the tahini sauce in the middle, followed by the aubergine. Drain the red cabbage and place a heaped tangle on top. Finish with some mint leaves, roughly torn, and serve with the mango chutney and extra tahini sauce alongside.