A simple but full of protein meal that uses elephant beans, hearty aubergine and beautiful veggies…
Serves: 2-3 Preparation time: 20′ Bakes in: 1:30′ Ready in: 1:50′
Ingredients
200gr elephant beans, soaked overnight
4 onions, 3 finely chopped, 1 whole
5 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 long red pepper, chopped
1 orange pepper, chopped
1 glass dry white wine
5 sprigs celery leaves, finely chopped
1 bunch parsley, finely chopped
¾ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 ripe tomatoes, peeled, chopped
2 tsp sugar
4 large purple eggplants, sliced
2 tsp dried oregano or thyme
salt, black pepper freshly ground
Method
Step 1
Drain beans. Place in a large pot with the whole onion and cover with water. Boil for 30-40 minutes until a little tender. Season with salt 10 minutes before draining the beans. Remove pot from heat and drain, keeping the liquid.
Step 2
Meanwhile set oven to 200ºC. Lay eggplants on a non-sticking baking dish, drizzle with oil, season with salt and bake on both sides.
Step 3
Heat the oil in a large non-sticking pan and sauté onion, garlic, pepper, celery and parsley until veggies soften. Stir in beans carefully not to break them. Pour in the wine and stir until alcohol evaporates. Add tomato, sugar and a little oregano or thyme. Season with salt and pepper.
Step 4
Transfer beans in an ovenproof dish, add a glass of the reserved bean liquid and cook at 180ºC until beans are cooked through.
Step 5
When water has evaporated and beans have started to make a nice crust on top, stir in eggplants. Bake for another 10 minutes and serve with freshly ground black pepper and parsley.
Photo – Food styling Antonia Kati
