MEATLESS MONDAY: caviar d'aubergine & faux maccarons

Some decadencies in the form of delicacies surely warm our heart and our soul. And what better to splurge on than French food? I love all of it: steaks frites, baguettes, fromages, éclaires... So, from time to time I make sure to unnecessarily spoil myself with a bit of all of it. A french night in for me, myself and I should look exactly like this: a vegetarian version of steak tartare, namely a caviar d'aubergine (eggplant tartare), with crispy grilled baguette slices, and, bien sûr, an oversized faux chocolate maccaron with heavy cream and sweet berries in between. No more, no less.

CAVIAR D'AUBERGINES - EGGPLANT CAVIAR

INGREDIENTS

• 2 round eggplants, halved
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• 3 fresh garlic cloves, minced
• 20 black olives, pitted and minced
• 3 tbsp. fresh thyme leaves
• 1 tbsp. fresh rosemary needles, minced
• 1 tbsp. ground cumin seeds
• 1 tsp. sweet pepper
• 1/2 tbsp. fleur de sel
• 5 black pepper corns, freshly ground
• 1/2 organic lemon, juice

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 450F with the grill function turned out.
2. Halve the eggplants, place them on a baking sheet and roast - with the face side up - for half an hour until the eggplant skins are slightly charred. Take out and let cool slightly.
3. Scratch the flesh of the eggplant out with a fork, leaving behind the charred skin. Mash it a bit more with the fork if needed.
4. Heat the olive oil in a frying pan. Stir-fry the eggplant flesh for two minutes, then add the garlic cloves, thyme, rosemary, cumin and pepper. Fry for another minute or two. Season with salt and pepper.
5. Drizzle with lemon juice and a bit more salt if necessary.
6. Serve with grilled slices of baguettes and some salted butter.

The very pretty and very simple, sweet, french maccarons can be found on my blog, here.