Cuisine

MEDITERRANEAN STUFFED VEGETABLES WITH ROASTED BUCKWHEAT & OLIVES

SERVES 6 / PREPARATION 30 MINUTES PLUS 1 HOUR SOAKING TIME / COOKING 1 HOUR 40 MINUTES

I like to do a range of vegetables for colour: there are plenty for six people, though there won’t be one apiece of everything. The roasted buckwheat and olives make a tasty crunchy topping. I use Crespo pitted dry olives as they dry out even more during cooking, giving a crumbly topping.

½ cup buckwheat

½ cup pitted dry black olives, halved (I used Crespo brand) ¼ cup capers, drained

½ teaspoon flaky salt

5 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra to drizzle

¼ cup pinenuts

4 small/medium red onions, peeled and ends trimmed 2 small/medium eggplants, halved lengthways

4 medium tomatoes

2 garlic cloves, crushed

2 x 425g cans white beans such as cannellini or butter, drained 2 tablespoons any combination of fresh oregano, thyme and rosemary, finely chopped

100g parmesan, grated

2 capsicums, halved and deseeded

150ml vegetable stock

250g fresh mozzarella basil and microgreens, to garnish

Place the buckwheat in a bowl and cover with water. Leave to soak for 1 hour, then drain and rinse.

Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan bake.

Put the buckwheat in a bowl with the olives, capers, salt and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and toss well. Spread onto a baking tray and bake for 10 minutes, then stir and bake for 10 minutes more until dry and toasted. Stir in the pinenuts and cook for 5 more minutes. Cool, crumble with your fingers and store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Put the onions in a saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes until tender when pierced with a skewer. Drain and run under cold water. Cut off about a quarter from the root end of each onion and discard. Remove the middle of the onion, leaving a shell of about 3 layers of onion. Chop the onion centres finely. Set aside.

Put the eggplants on a baking tray, cut-side up. Brush with 2 tablespoons of the oil and season with salt. Roast for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and gently cut out the centre of the eggplant flesh. Chop and set aside.

Cut the tops off the tomatoes, carefully scoop out the flesh, chop and set aside.

Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and cook the chopped onion and garlic for a few minutes, then add the eggplant and tomato flesh, beans and herbs and stir to combine, crushing the beans as you stir. Remove from the heat and stir through the parmesan and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Arrange the onion, eggplant, tomatoes and capsicums in a roasting dish that holds them snugly and fill the vege shells with the bean mixture. It can be prepared a day ahead to this point. Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan bake. Pour the stock over and around the vegetables and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for 35–40 minutes. If you wish, transfer the veges to a warmed serving platter. Tear the mozzarella into pieces and nestle amongst the veges, scatter with the roasted olive mix and add a few basil leaves and microgreens.

Place the remaining herbs along with the crushed garlic and zest of one lime (reserve the flesh of the lime) in a bowl and whisk in 2 tablespoons of the vinegar, the extra virgin olive oil and finally the chilli-salt water. The chimichurri keeps for 1 week in the fridge.

For the crumb, melt the butter in a frying pan over a medium heat. Add the breadcrumbs and cook for 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the paprika, ground coriander and oregano and cook, stirring frequently, for about 3 minutes more until golden and toasted. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

For the braised chilli potato salad, core, deseed and finely slice the ancho and chipotle chillies. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy-based casserole dish over a medium heat and add the potatoes. Using your knife, crush the whole garlic cloves, discard the skins and add to the potatoes along with the salt and dried chillies. Stir well, turn the heat to very low, cover and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 1 hour (more if your potatoes are larger) or until tender. This can be done a day in advance and served at room temperature.

When ready to serve, slice the red onion into very fine strips and put into a bowl of cold water. Leave for 10 minutes, then drain well. Slice the capsicum and fresh chilli into fine strips and add to the onion along with the chopped tomato, the remaining 2 tablespoons of vinegar and a sprinkle of salt. Carefully cut away all the skin and pith from both limes, then dice the flesh, add to the bowl with the capsicum-tomato mixture and toss gently. Leave for about 30 minutes, stirring once.

Bring the potatoes to room temperature or warm a little. Cut each crayfish tail in half and lay cut-side up on a tray. Drizzle with a little of the chimichurri and set aside.

Heat a barbecue grill plate or frying pan to hot and grill the crayfish for about 3 minutes on the shell side until turning pink, then flip and cook for about another 2–3 minutes or until just cooked.

Arrange the potatoes on a platter and scatter over the capsicum-tomato mixture. Top with the crayfish tails and scatter with the crumb and reserved herbs, and serve with chimichurri. Alternatively, plate the crayfish and serve the potato salad alongside.

FIONA SMITH

en-nz

2021-11-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-11-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

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