Pomegranate and Aubergine Salad with Harissa and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

by Sabrina Ghayour, featured in Feasts

Published by Mitchell Beazley

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Introduction

Don't be afraid about using this amount of oil to cook the aubergines - the excess oil can be squeezed out after cooking. To serve this as bruschetta, simply omit the bread from the recipe and serve on slices of toasted sourdough.

As featured in

Feasts

Image of Sabrina Ghayour's Pomegranate and Aubergine Salad — Photo by Kris Kirkham

Ingredients

Serves: 6-8

250- 300 millilitres vegetable oil
2- 3 large or 5 small aubergines (cut into 5cm chunks)
2 tablespoons olive oil
150 millilitres pomegranate molasses
1 heaped tablespoon rose harissa
2- 3 tablespoons clear honey (plus extra to taste)
2 heaped tablespoons tomato puree
2 slices of day-old sourdough bread (if using fresh, briefly toast and leave to dry for 1 hour), cut into cubes
150 grams sundried tomatoes in oil, drained and cut widthways into strips
1 small bunch (about 30g) fresh flatleaf parsley (finely chopped)
200 grams pomegranate seeds
100 grams pistachios nuts
Maldon sea salt flakes

Method

Pomegranate and Aubergine Salad with Harissa and Sun-Dried Tomatoes is a guest recipe by Sabrina Ghayour so we are not able to answer questions regarding this recipe

Pour the vegetable oil into a large, deep saucepan and heat over a medium-high heat. Line a plate with a double layer of kitchen paper. Add the aubergines to the hot oil in the pan and fry for 10–15 minutes, stirring every few minutes to prevent burning, until fully cooked and deeply golden brown on all sides.
Remember that aubergines need plenty of oil to cook properly, so add more oil if the pan becomes dry. Using a metal slotted spoon, transfer the cooked aubergine pieces to the paper-lined plate. Place another 2 sheets of kitchen paper on top and press the aubergine pieces gently with the paper to extract all excess oil. Leave to cool.
Put the olive oil into a large mixing bowl with the pomegranate molasses, harissa, honey and tomato purée and mix well. Add the stale bread cubes and coat them well with the mixture.
Add the cooled aubergines, sun-dried tomatoes, parsley, pomegranate seeds and pistachios and season well with salt. Mix thoroughly. At this point, you can add more honey to balance out the sour notes to your taste. Cover the bowl with clingfilm and leave the salad to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. This can also be made the day before and refrigerated overnight. Stir well before serving.