I have been an Instagram fan of Chef Loyiso Mthoba for a while now and I decided that before he gets too famous I will ask him if he would like to prepare a recipe for the blog. He immediately agreed and we got together a week ago to make his delicious Fried Aubergine with Goat’s Cheese recipe.
The 23 year old Chef Loyiso is a commis chef at Reuben’s at the The One & Only Cape Town where and his Instagram account offers us a glimpse into the life of a chef at a 5 star resort. I love seeing what he is cooking, especially the very inventive canapes he comes up with on a regular basis. His is also an avid Instagram Stories user taking us as followers up close to all the behind the scenes action in the kitchen.
His recipe for Fried Aubergine with Goat’s Cheese is right up my alley. I love aubergine and it is one of my favourite vegetables. There are so many ways to dress the vegetable into something delicious and it becomes a great vegetarian meal.
Here is it fried and then layered on top of a tomato sauce, topped with goat’s cheese and popped under the grill and served with some fresh basil and a tasty leek ash. If you are not fond of goat’s cheese it can easily be replaced with a cheese of your choice. Feta, ricotta or parmesan will work well here. Make sure that the tomato sauce packs a lot of flavour as that will just enhance the overall taste of the dish. Enjoy!
Ingredients
- Serves 2
- 200g goat's cheese
- two large aubergines
- 1 tin chopped tomatoes
- Baleia Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- salted butter
- sea salt flakes
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- fresh oregano
- fresh basil
- Chili Oil:
- chopped red chili
- Baleia Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Leek Ash:
- 4 leeks, cut in half lengthwise
Instructions
- Make the Leek Ash by placing the leeks on a baking tray
- Dry off in the oven preferably overnight at 50 degrees C
- Once dry, blend into a dust
- Make the Chili Oil by pouring a generous amount of oil into a saucepan and add the chillies
- Let it infuse on a low heat for 10 - 15 minutes
- Once infused, drain the chilies from the oil and let it set. (Small bubbles will have formed so let it set to settle them down.)
- Slice and sprinkle the aubergine with salt and set aside for an hour
- (This helps draw out the water out, as they tend to carry a lot of water)
- Preheat the oven to 190 degrees C
- Rinse the aubergine slices and dry them out with paper towel
- Have a pan heated on high heat and sear off the aubergine slices with olive oil and butter
- Season with sea salt flakes and pepper and set aside
- Prepare the tomato sauce by heating a good glug of olive oil in a saucepan
- Add the tomatoes, cumin, black pepper, salt and chopped oregano
- Let it simmer until reduced by half
- Have two oven proof shallow wide bowls ready and spoon the tomato sauce as a base, followed by layering the aubergine slices, overlapping on each other
- Sprinkle with salt and then generously with the goats cheese
- Place into the oven and bake for about 15 - 20 minutes until melted and golden
- Garnish with basil leaves, sprinkle with leek ash and drizzle with some chili oil
** Disclaimer: Olive oil provided by Baleia Extra Virgin Olive Oil
I am proud to be associated with Baleia Extra Virgin Olive Oil and use it whenever a recipe requires Extra Virgin Olive Oil. The South African cold press extra virgin Olive Oil is produced in the Riversdale area, has a whiff of fresh cut grass and aromas of green tomatoes, almonds artichokes and green apples.
A few more of my favourite Aubergine recipes:
Sabrina
Jun 27, 2017
This is such a cool recipe! That leek ash is so inventive. This chef definitely thought up the most creative version of eggplant parm I’ve ever seen…love your photos too!
heinstirred
Jun 27, 2017
Thank you Sabrina. Chef Loyiso is a rising star in Cape Town. Thrilled to have had him do a recipe for the blog.