I know all you dishes to the left there have been forming an orderly queue for some time now, but I just have to jump it today - out of pure excitement. The story of this discovery is a long one, but I'll keep it short. My friend Martina is a professional caterer (A table in London) and she happens to know Eric Treuille, who co-owns "Books for Cooks" in Notting Hill and has written one of the best cook books I have ever come across. She might not be invited to his private soirées (yet), but they know each other well enough for him to recognise her when she visits his shop to browse his fascinating collection of cookbooks. (There you go, that's MY tenuous link to the successful and famous cookbook writers and shop owners!). His "Canapés" (more on this over the holidays) were co-written by Victoria Blashford-Snell and on a recent browsing adventure on amazon, I discovered and ordered another book coming out of her pen (or computer, for that matter): "Diva Cooking".
Forget "The Domestic Goddess" (I am talking about Lawson here, not our very talented "Queen of Cakes" Jennifer of The Domestic Goddess) - no seriously, chuck her out. I've never understood the attraction anyway. "Diva Cooking" is the new Bible, I have only made three of the recipes so far (I wouldn't mind cooking night and day, but I certainly cannot eat that much), but they were all stunning, incredible, fantastic - I'm at a loss for words here.
The recipe below is for a crunchy puff pastry base topped with a creamy aubergine, pine-nut and goats cheese mix - as usual, I have taken the liberty to amend, but the essence remains very VBS. Gorgeous food. Simply perfect.
This dish is perfectly representing what her recipes are about: easy-to-prepare, down-to-earth, perfect to make ahead, glorious partyfood using ingredients which a) don't cost the earth, b) are easy to find and c) have a good chance of being liked by everybody. What else could you ask for. While you read through the recipe, I am going to spring-clean my cookbook shelf and get rid of all the unnecessary clutter. Three books to remain: "Diva Cooking", "Canapés" and Gordon Ramsay's "Secrets"!
Aubergine, pine-nut & goat's cheese puffs
(serves 4)
150 g puff pastry (ready rolled)
50 ml olive oil
250 g baby aubergines (finely diced)
1 small onion (finely chopped)
1 garlic clove (crushed)
1 tbsp thyme (chopped)
1 tbsp rosemary (chopped)
70 g soft, mild goat's cheese
50 g pine kernels
4 medium tomatoes
1 tbsp olive oil & 1 tbsp balsamico (to marinate)
4 handfuls of rocket leaves
4 tbsp parmesan shavings
Slice the tomatoes and marinate in 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 200 C. Using a pastry cutter or a ramekin dish, cut four rounds of 10 - 12 cm diameter. Prick serveral times with a fork, lay on a baking tray and bake in the oven for 7 minutes, then turn over and bake for another 7 minutes until risen and golden brown. Set aside.
Heat 50 ml olive oil in a non-stick frying pan and add the onion and garlic. Sweat until starting to brown, then add the aubergines. Cook for about 10 minutes, or until soft, then add the herbs and season to taste with salt and pepper. Add the goats cheese and pine nuts and leave to cool.
Arrange the pastry rounds on plates, top with a quarter each of the aubergine mix, top with slices of marinated tomatoes & rocket, then sprinkle with parmesan and the left-over marinade.
Serve immediately.
Tip: You can prepare everything well in advance and assemble at the last minute. The pastry rounds can be made up to a week in advance, the aubergine mix 24 hours. Marinate the tomatoes no more than an hour or they will go soggy and loose all their precious juices.
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