Roasted Aubergine, Tomato Sauce, Beans and Ricotta Gnocchi

Hi everyone,

Today I brought you the recipe of a dish made from mid-summer fresh garden produce, roasted aubergines sitting in tomato sauce with cooked white beans, ricotta gnocchi and green oil. I hope you’ll like it.

Supplies

Ingredients:

100 g mozzarella

For the beans:

100 g dry white beans
1 sprig tarragon

For the aubergine:

1 mid-sized aubergine
2-3 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
generous amount of freshly ground black pepper

For the tomato sauce:

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 mid-sized onions
4-6 cloves of garlic
700 ml canned thick tomato juice (could be home-made or store-bought passata)
a bunch of parsley
few sprigs of thyme
few sprigs of oregano
1 tablespoon honey
1 level teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon pepper
pinch of cayenne
a handful of cherry tomatoes

For the gnocchi:

250 g ricotta
2 egg yolks
100 g all-purpose flour (plus more for dusting)
25 g grated parmesan
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
60 g unsalted butter
20-25 sage leaves

For the green oil:

lots of basil and parsley leaves (about 1 cup)
4-6 tablespoons of olive oil

Utensils:

saucepan
parchment paper
cutting board
baking tray
baking pan
large pot
mixing bowl
bench scraper / knife
colander
skillet
salad spinner
high-speed blender
blender bowl

Step 1: Beans

If you use dry beans like I did, start off with them. The evening before cooking the dish, place them in a saucepan and add ample cold water. Let it stand overnight.

Next morning, drain, cover with fresh water add a sprig of tarragon (optional) for the taste and cook on low heat until soft and tender. Cooking time needed depends on the bean, it took 2 hours for me. Leave it in the cooking liquid until use.

Shortcut: use cooked, canned beans.

Step 2: Aubergine

Preheat the oven to 190°C.

Halve the aubergine lengthwise, then score diagonally. Season with salt, pepper and olive oil.

Roast in the preheated oven for about 30 minutes until tender.

Step 3: Prepping Tomato Sauce

Remove the skin and finely chop onions and garlic.

Remove herb leaves from the harder, woody stems.

Step 4: Cooking Tomato Sauce

Pour 2 tablespoons olive oil into the pot, add onion and let it soften, stirring occasionally until it starts to get translucent. Add garlic and sautée for 2 more minutes, then pour passata over, add honey and season. Let it simmer for about 20 minutes (or until it reaches the desired consistency), then pull off the heat and stir in herbs.

Step 5: Assemble and Bake

Pour tomato sauce into a mid-sized pan, place halved aubergines on top, add mozzarella – torn into pieces – on top of aubergines and finish it off with adding cherry tomatoes and beans.

Put the whole thing back into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes until the cheese melts.

Step 6: Gnocchi Dough

First of all, bring a large pot of water to boil with 2 teaspoons of salt.

Mix the ingredients of the dough: add egg yolks into the ricotta and stir thoroughly, add in flour, parmesan, season and stir until combined. The dough should hold together well, though it may feel a bit wet to the touch.

Dump it onto a floured countertop.

Step 7: Forming Gnocchi

Flatten the dough into a disc, then cut into two parts.

Roll it into an even log, approximately 2 cm diameter. Using a bench scraper or a knife cut the log into 2 - 2.5 cm pieces.

Dust them ligthly with flour and toss them to make sure they do not stick.

Step 8: Boiling

Transfer the gnocchi into the boiling water, wait until they emerge to the surface then simmer for 1 minute.

Drain them using a colander.

Step 9: Toasting

Melt butter in a skillet and when it starts to get brownish, add sage leaves and fry for 1-2 minutes until edges start to get crispy. Then transfer gnocchi into the skillet in a single layer and toast, stirring occasionally.

Step 10: Green Oil

Wash and drain herbs in a salad spinner. Remove leaves from stems, and dump them into a blender bowl. Add olive oil and blend with a high-speed blender. (It can be strained to remove leaf-bits.)