A Lentil and Aubergine Stack
Did you know that the word lentil comes from the ancient French word for freckle? Those little red lentils do look as cute as a freckle, I must say. For this dish, we are however using their big brother – the Puy lentil. These guys have a rich sophisticated flavour and there is nothing cute about it! Excellent when combined with the soft, sweet taste of our cheesy roux sauce and our sumptuously soft baked aubergine. This is a pile of pure pleasure! Enjoy.
The quantities provided above are averages only.
Boxes and ingredients are packed in facilities that handles Peanut, Nuts, Sesame, Fish, Crustaceans, Milk, Egg, Mustard, Celery, Soya, Gluten and Sulphites. Due to the war in Ukraine, it has been necessary to substitute sunflower oil with rapeseed oil in some products without a label change. The FSA have advised that allergic reactions to rapeseed oil are rare.
Ingredients
2
Aubergine
(May contain Celery)
¾
Cherry Tomatoes
1
Mature Cheddar Cheese
(Contains Milk)
1
Grated Hard Italian Style Cheese
(Contains Milk, Egg)
1
Chestnut Mushrooms
½
Flat Leaf Parsley
2
Netherend Butter Salted
(Contains Milk)
2
Flour
(Contains Cereals containing gluten)
1
Milk
(Contains Milk)
1
Boursin
(Contains Milk)
1
Organic Lentils
1
Ciabatta
(Contains Cereals containing gluten May contain Cereals containing gluten)
Nutritional information
Utensils
Instructions
Pre heat your oven on to 200 degrees. Wash the aubergine and slice widthways into discs approximately 1⁄2cm thick, discarding the very top and bottom. Slice your cherry tomatoes in half. Grate the cheddar cheese and hard Italian cheese and keep separate. Roughly chop the mushrooms and the parsley.
Rub 1 tbsp of oil over the aubergine slices with 1⁄2 tsp of salt. Lay out on a baking tray and cook on the top shelf of the oven for 15- 20 mins. Put your cherry tomatoes on a different baking tray and roast on the bottom shelf of the oven for 15-20 mins.
Melt the butter in a pan on medium heat. Once the butter is melted, add in the flour and mix it thoroughly. This mixture is called a ‘roux’ and you need to cook it for a few more minutes until it changes colour slightly.
Add in a quarter of your milk and stir it thoroughly into the roux. Now add another quarter of the milk and keep stirring. Add the remaining milk with a 1⁄4 of a tsp of salt and cook until it has thickened. Tip: The sauce will be lumpy at first, but keep on stirring until you have a smooth consistency.
Turn on your grill to its highest setting. Once the sauce is smooth turn the heat to low and add another pinch of salt. Add the cheddar and the Boursin and mix well.
Drain and rinse the lentils thoroughly. Add these to your cheese sauce and cook for another 3-4 mins until warmed through. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper to your liking. Slice your ciabatta in half and put under the grill for 2 mins.
Heat a large frying pan over a high heat with 1 tbsp of oil. Add the mushrooms and fry off quickly in 2 batches, remove from the pan. Add the mushrooms to the lentil mix.
Stack the cooked aubergine, cherry tomatoes and lentil mix in alternate layers in an oven proof dish. Top with the hard Italian cheese and put under your grill until it melts. Sprinkle over the parsley, serve with your ciabatta on the side and tuck in.
