Smoked aubergine, pepper and walnut salad with pomegranate
A smoky aubergine salad topped with crunchy pomegranate seeds and walnuts. Scoop up with flatbread for a satisfying main course or as part of a mezze.
Ingredients
- 4 large aubergines, pricked with a fork
- 3 large red peppers
- 50g/1¾oz walnuts, roughly chopped
- 1 small bunch (about 30g/1oz) flatleaf parsley, roughly chopped (reserve some for garnish)
- 2 fat garlic cloves, crushed
- 6 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
- ½ lemon, juice only
- pinch ground cinnamon
- sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
To serve
- 75ml/2½fl oz pomegranate molasses
- 100g/3½oz pomegranate seeds
- flatbreads, warmed
Method
Blister and char the aubergines and peppers, either on a barbecue, flame grill or on the flame of your gas hob. Really blacken the skins until they are hardened and completely burnt. (Lining your hob with kitchen foil will prevent you having to deal with a very heavy clean-up, as the juices can be messy.)
Put the aubergines on a baking tray and leave to cool for about 20 minutes, until they are cool enough to handle.
Put the peppers in a food bag, tie it closed and set aside to sweat for 20 minutes. Remove the peppers from the bag and slide off the blackened skins and discard. Roughly chop the flesh and put in a large mixing bowl.
Using a large metal spoon, scoop out the flesh of the aubergines into a fine-mesh sieve to drain off any of the excess juices. Discard the skins. Roughly chop the flesh into smallish chunks and add to the roasted peppers. Mix together gently. Add the walnuts, parsley, garlic, olive oil, lemon juice, cinnamon and salt and pepper and mix well.
To serve, spoon the aubergine and peppers onto a large platter and smooth out. Drizzle with the pomegranate molasses, scatter over the reserved parsley and the pomegranate seeds, then add a light drizzle of olive oil. Serve straight away with the flatbreads.
