Serves: 4

Preparation:  30 minutes

Cooking Time: 40 minutes

Category: Vegetarian / /Vegan

Plan:  Eat freshly prepared, refrigerate left overs

Difficulty:  Medium

Course: Lunch / Supper

Cuisine: English / Mediterranean



Sticky Upside Down Aubergine and Pomegranate Tart

This is a Guest Recipe by Georgina Hayden and published on 21st April 2023 in the Guardian.   Her recipes are Greek Cypriot and family inspired.

We loved slow roasted aubergines in our household so to find more tasty recipes with a difference is an absolute bonus.

So this combination is a fusion of Greek Cypriot cooking with Persian cuisine.

This dish uses pomegranate molasses which is delicious in creating a tangy dressing.   We also used a Vegan puff pastry and it seemed to be absolutely fine.

I loved the sound of this as soon as I found it and then made this a few days ago and served it with Saffron Rice with Barberries and Sliced Dried Plums - absolutely perfect pairing.

The two recipes take a little time to prepare but are oh so worth it!   It is essential to cook the aubergine slices first so that the texture will be perfect in the finished tart.

Utensils

• One saute pan
• One dish for storing the cooked aubergine discs
• One large plate for serving
• One bowl to collect pomegranate seeds
• One bowl to mix dressing
• Balloon whisk
• Chopping board
• Sharp knife
• Garlic crush
• Pastry board and rolling pin

Ingredients

• 3 good sized aubergines
• 20g flaked almonds
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
• 3 tablespoons of pomegranate molasses
• 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons caster sugar
• 500g puff pastry
• One pomegranate, deseeded
• Small bunch of freshly chopped parsley
• Small bunch of freshly chopped garden mint

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200C Fan/Gas Mark 7.
   
   
2. Trim the aubergines and slice into discs.
   
   
3. Take an ovenproof saute pan, add some oil and start to batch fry the aubergines on both sides and set these aside in a dish until ready for assembling.
   
   
4. Place the flaked almonds on a dry baking tray and put these into the oven for about five minutes, watch carefully that they just become a good golden colour otherwise they will quickly char.   Then set aside.
   
   
5. To make the dressing, whisk the pomegranate molasses together with the red wine vinegar, caster sugar and garlic and set aside.
   
   
6. Roll out the puff pastry on a floured board just a little bigger than the circumference of your saute pan and drape over the rolling pin for easy positioning.
   
   
7. As soon as the aubergine slices have been cooked, add the sauce to the remaining oily juices in the pan and simmer for a few minutes until starting to thicken and reduce.
   
   
8. Now place the aubergine slices  evenly into the pan and then slide the pastry over the top of this, tucking the edges down and pricking the surface with a fork in several places.
   
   
9. Now transfer to the oven and bake for about 25 minutes until bubbling and the pastry has risen a little and turned a deep golden colour.
   
   
10. To prepare the topping:  chop the herbs and put these into a bowl together with the pomegranate seeds.   I find the easiest way to do this is to slice off the top of the pomegranate so that the seeded flesh is showing, then make five vertical cuts around the skin of the fruit to the base and then gently pull apart section by section and then tease the seeds into a dish.   This way, it makes very little mess and although always fiddly, probably the quickest way to de-seed the fruit.
    
    
11. As soon as the tart is done, remove from the oven, gently easy a knife around the edge of the tart to stop it sticking to the edge of the dish -  and using protective gloves, place a large plate on the top and turn the tart out.
    
    
12. Finally, sprinkle the toasted flaked almonds together with the herbs and pomegranate seeds onto the top of the tart and serve straight away.
    
    
13. If you decide to serve this with the Saffron Rice with Barberries and Sliced Dried Plums, my advice is to bake the rice dish in the oven and time it to serve with the tart to enjoy the rice at it's fluffiest and best.