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Diana Henry’s butter-roast aubergines and tomatoes with freekeh and koch-kocha

By: Diana Henry

Published: 18 Sep 19
Updated: 18 Mar 24

Diana Henry’s butter-roast aubergines and tomatoes with freekeh and koch-kocha

Taken from Dianry Henry’s latest book; From The Oven To The Table, this roasted aubergine and tomato dish makes a seriously tasty supper, especially when mopped up with a good quality loaf of bread.

Why not serve this dish as part of a vibrant mezze spread?

Easy
October 2019

Test kitchen approved

Serves four
10-15 minutes hands-on time, 40 minutes cooking time

Why not serve this dish as part of a vibrant mezze spread?

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Ingredients

For the vegetables and freekeh

1kg baby aubergines
1kg plum tomatoes (you can use a mixture of
colours – red, green and yellow – as long as they are
about the same size)
100g unsalted butter
12 garlic cloves, not too finely sliced
Sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
A little soft light brown sugar (optional, only if your
tomatoes aren’t sweet)
250g cooked freekeh
Natural yogurt, to serve
Good bread, to serve

For the koch-kocha

½ green pepper, halved, deseeded and roughly chopped
50g coriander leaves
1 red chilli and 1 green chilli, halved and deseeded
3cm fresh root ginger, peeled and finely grated
Juice of 1 lime
½ tablespoon cider vinegar, or white wine vinegar
1 garlic clove, finely grated
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon ground cardamom seeds
¼ teaspoon crushed grains of paradise
½ teaspoon crushed ajwain
100ml extra virgin olive oil

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Method

Preheat the oven to 190C/fan 170C/ gas 6. Pierce each aubergine with the tip of a knife – you don’t have to remove the tops – and cut the tomatoes in half. Put them into a roasting tin or a shallow casserole dish 30cm (12inches) in diameter. They don’t have to quite lie in a single layer but they should almost do so.
Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the garlic. Cook over a low heat for a few minutes, then pour the butter all over the vegetables, turning them over. Season and sprinkle each tomato half with a little sugar if they aren’t very sweet. If you have great tomatoes, you won’t need it.
Roast for 30 minutes, turning the aubergines over once during this time.

For the koch-kocha sauce, simply put everything into a food processor and whizz until smooth.
Add the freakeh to the roasting tin, pushing it down under the vegetables (you don’t want it sprinkled on top of them). Return to the oven for a final 5-10 minutes, or until the tomatoes are caramelised, the aubergines are tender right through and the freekeh has become slightly sticky at the edges.
Serve the dish with the sauce, a big bowl of natural yoghurt and good bread.