A very Russian way to cook aubergines when it’s time for home canning. Before long cold winter time we all want to save some summer sun. Aubergines, tomatoes, beans, fruits, berries – days and nights in a kitchen in August, days and nights in September. A lot of tasty dinners in December, January and February. Then seedlings at spring time. Horticulture all summer long. And again days and night in a kitchen with home canning. Circle of life…
Aubergine paste.

Recipe:

To peel the aubergines or not, to add coriander leaves or cook it only with parsley is entirely a matter of taste. I keep the aubergines skin and love coriander. But for this recipe neither is essential.

Ingredients you’ll need

* 2 aubergines

* 1 carrot

* 1 small onion

* 2 cloves of garlic

* 1–2 green apples

* 6 tomatoes

* 1 sprig of parsley

* 1 sprig of coriander

* salt and sugar to taste

* vegetable oil

Directions

1. Slice the aubergines into disks 4–5 mm thick. Soak in warm salt water for 20–30 minutes. Rinse and squeeze out the excess moisture. Fry in heated oil until half cooked.

2. Cut the onion in half and thinly slice. Peel the carrot and grate it. Fry the carrot and onion in oil until golden.

3. Blanch the tomatoes—soak in boiling water for a couple of minutes then dip in ice water. Slice thick.

4. Peel the apples, remove the pits and slice thin.

5. Crush the garlic cloves.

6. In a casserole-dish of the right size put a layer of tomatoes on the bottom. Sprinkle some salt and sugar on top. Lay carrot and onion on top. And proceed laying vegetables in this order: apples, aubergines, tomatoes, and again—apples, aubergines, tomatoes. All carrot and onion should go into the initial layer. Sprinkle some salt, sugar and crushed garlic on top of every layer. Fill two thirds of the pan. Place half of your herbs on top. I don’t bother chopping them, because when the paste is ready and the herbs will have given up all their fragrance and lost their bright colour, and so they can be removed.

7. Put a lid on the pan and cook on low heat for 1–1.5 hours. Let it cool, remove the colourless herbs (they’ve given it their fragrance already). Chop up the remaining fresh herbs, and mix them into the paste.

The paste is delicious when served warm, but it is especially savoury on day two on a slice of rye or wholegrain bread.