Aubergine caviar

Think baba ganoush but less Lavantine and smoky and more Gallic and garlicky (évidemment).

Ingredients:

• 2 aubergines
• 1 head of garlic (not a clove, the whole head)
• The juice of half a lemon
• Fresh thyme
• Olive oil
• A 4cm chunk of Parmesan (sometimes I use feta instead, roughly 100g)
• ½ tsp. salt

Method:

Slice the aubergines in half, score them and place them sliced side down on an oiled baking tray. Tuck a sprig of thyme under each aubergine half, and place in the oven for 40min at 170 degrees.

Half the head of garlic and add to the roasting tray after 15min.

Leave both the aubergines and garlic to cool – I like doing this at night, so all I have to do is turn off the oven and open the door a bit.

When cool, scoop the aubergines out of their skins and into a blender. You can add the thyme, but the leaves only, don’t add the twigs. Squeeze the garlic in the blender too, then add the lemon juice, cheese, salt and a few more fresh leaves of thyme.

Pulse in the blender, you want to keep some texture. Taste and season some more to your liking.

This works well as a dip but also on toast, like shown, with a range of topping. Here I served it with mozzarella but it goes well with olives, tomatoes, sausages, falafels etc.