Chilled grilled aubergine soup
Prep 10 min
Cook dinner 35 min
Sit back 2 hr+
Serves 2
4 giant aubergines (about 1kg)
3 purple romano peppers
4 garlic cloves, peeled and beaten
Juice of three lemons
6 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus 4 tbsp more to complete
100g shelled walnuts, beaten
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
1 tsp Turkish chilli, similar to pul biber
Salt and black pepper
1 tsp dried mint, to complete
Flip at the grill to its easiest imaginable atmosphere (or stir up the barbeque). Put the aubergines and peppers on an oven tray and grill, turning continuously (or barbeque without delay over the coals), till charred in all places and cushy at the within – the peppers will want 5 to ten mins and the aubergines 15 to twenty mins. Take away and put aside to chill.
As soon as the greens are cool sufficient to care for, peel off the blackened skins, and take away the stalks, seeds and pith from the peppers. Put the aubergine flesh on a tray for 5 to ten mins, all over which period any sour juices within will seep out.
Give the pepper and aubergine flesh a snappy chop, then put all of it in a meals processor with the minced garlic and pulse for simply 4 or 5 seconds – you’re after a corpulent, no longer clean consistency right here.
Tip right into a bowl, upload the remainder components and 500ml chilly water, then whisk to mix, nonetheless conserving that chunky texture. Take a look at the seasoning, sit back for a minimum of a few hours, and serve with a sprinkling of dried mint and a just right drizzle of olive oil on best.
Grilled sardines wrapped in vine leaves
Prep 10 min
Cook dinner 15 min
Serves 2
For the fish
Salt and black pepper
6 decent-sized sardines, scaled and gutted
6 contemporary vine leaves – if you’ll’t get any, use the pickled ones in jars from Turkish and Heart Jap meals shops
Sunflower oil, for brushing
For the salad
200g cherry tomatoes, halved
1 tbsp capers, tired (or rinsed if packed in salt)
1 medium purple onion, peeled and more or less chopped
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, peeled and beaten
1 tbsp red-wine vinegar
Season the fish generously in and out, then wrap every one in a vine leaf, leaving the top and tail uncovered.
Put all of the salad components in a bowl and depart to steep.
Warmth a griddle pan at the range (or stir up a barbeque). Brush the wrapped fish in all places with sunflower oil, then lay within the sizzling pan and cook dinner for 3 to 4 mins on every facet – you wish to have some caramelisation at the vine leaves. Switch the fish to a platter and serve with the salad and, preferably, a pitcher of rakı.
Highly spiced bulgur salad with tomato, urfa chilli and bitter cherries
Prep 15 min
Soak 1 hr
Serves 2
1 giant red meat tomato, more or less chopped
250g bitter cherries (contemporary or frozen), pitted – if you’ll’t to find bitter cherries, use an additional red meat tomato as an alternative
125g advantageous bulgur wheat
1 spring onion, trimmed and chopped
1 English cucumber, diced
1 garlic clove, peeled and beaten
30g contemporary mint leaves, more or less chopped
30g flat-leaf parsley leaves, more or less chopped
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
1 tsp sumac
Juice of two lemons
1 tbsp isot (AKA urfa) chilli
1 tbsp pul biber
50ml extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp flooring cumin
Salt and black pepper
Put the tomato and cherries in a blender, and blitz to a clean puree. Tip right into a bowl, upload the bulgur and 100ml chilly water, and depart to soak for approximately an hour, till the bulgur softens and turns into chewable. Switch the combo to a serving bowl, stir in all of the closing components, season to style – it must be refreshing and a little tangy – and function an aspect dish.
