Deep fried aubergine with a Manchego cheese & parsley crust.

Deep fried aubergine with a Manchego cheese and parsley crust.

Although this is a deep fried dish, it’s not heavy at all. The exterior crust will prevent the oil from soaking into the aubergine, but the heat will make it soft and gooey on the inside.

The aubergine “sticks” can be prepared well in advance, and kept in the freezer until the last minute before frying. They will be fine in the freezer, for 2-3 days.

UPDATE – 20/05/2016 A short video (1 minute 30 seconds) is now attached below of this easy recipe. This time I baked the aubergines in the oven rather than deep frying them. I in my opinion they came out much better.

Deep fried aubergine with a Manchego cheese and parsley crust.

Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

5 mins

Total time

20 mins

Author: Intrepid Eats

Serves: 1-2

Ingredients

1 aubergine
1 glass of milk
2 eggs
50g grated Manchego (or another hard cheese)
2 spoons white flour
1 cup breadcrumbs
1 bunch of fresh parsley
1 bunch of fresh coriander (optional)
1/2 lemor or lime
2 spoons yogurt
1 spoon olive oil
salt&pepper
oil to fry

For the crust, use either old (very dry) breadcrumbs or make fresh ones, from older bread but not quite dry. Both work well. Using a food processor or a blender, mix the breadcrumbs with the parsley together until you get a parsley crumb. Season with a touch of salt and pepper. Mix in the grated cheese.

Beat the eggs. Cut the aubergine into sticks, skin on. Dip in the milk, then cover with flour and shake off the excess before coating with beaten egg now. Last step is covering well the aubergine sticks with the cheese and breadcrumb mixture. Press it down so it sticks well on all sides.

Once all coated, place them in the freezer for at least 15 minutes. As I said they can stay for a few days, but also, if they are placed in an airtight bag or container they’ll keep for weeks.

When ready to fry, heat the oil to 170C and deep fry for about 5 minutes, or until golden and crispy on the top. For the coriander dip, blend the coriander into a paste, mix with the yogurt, season with salt and pepper, add olive oil and a squeeze of lemon or lime.