Aubergine, halloumi and sweet pepper stacks

I’ll come right out and admit it, I have an inability to follow recipes. Whether it's down to impatience or a touch of kitchen-related ADHD I have no idea. When I cook it’s usually based on something I am familiar with, or something I have eaten and want to try to recreate, or maybe I’ve found some ingredients in the kitchen cupboard and wonder how they'll go together (as an aside, in my student days out of desperation I made a pizza topped with harissa, sweetcorn, cheese triangles and peanuts as I had nothing else in the house. It was edible but not one of my finest moments…). To me it seems an anathema to read a book and follow directions. Having said that, I do own an extensive library of cookery books, and there's no better way to spend a cold rainy afternoon than curled up on the sofa with a book pouring over the recipes. Or indeed sitting in the shade on a sunny day, book on lap. But follow a recipe? It’s not that I think I can improve on the original, more that I end up fine tuning it to my own taste. The recipe calls for walnuts? Eh… I’ll use that quarter bag of chopped hazelnuts languishing in the back of the cupboard. Everything’s fried? I wonder whether I could bake it… The end result is probably more ‘inspired’ by the original than a facsimile. For that reason I never took to conventional baking, if I’m given precise quantities to measure out then I lose interest. I function much better with vague instructions such as “half a packet of this and a few handfuls of that…”

My current cook book obsession is the Comptoir Libanais Express book that I picked up last time I was in London, an instant favourite for the food and also for the glorious photographs and graphics. And that leads me on to the aubergine stacks, I love aubergines. They are probably one of my favourite vegetables, and I love tomatoes as well, however decent flavoured large tomatoes are pretty much scarce at this time of year (at least in my local stores) and if you do find anything larger than a cherry tomato then it’ll taste of nothing and be as tough as old boots. However sweet peppers are abundant and always tasty especially when oven roasted de-skinned and tossed in a balsamic vinegar and herby marinade overnight, and so the recipe metamorphoses…

This recipe is very much a 'prepare the bits and pieces ahead' type of affair, and other than the initial grilling of the aubergines, halloumi and peppers the actual preparation takes minutes. The original recipe (which can be found here) showcases the vegetables in their natural form, I had some leftover muhammara in the fridge and decided to spread that on the aubergine slices as I stacked them up, acting as a flavoured adhesive. The quantities below make 4 stacks (with some leftover halloumi to nibble on...)

Ingredients

1 large aubergine

2 red sweet peppers

1 block of halloumi

3 tablespoons of muhammara (optional)

1 bunch of coriander

A few sprigs of tarragon (optional, but gives a nice aniseedy twang to the sauce)

1 tablespoon of zaatar

Olive oil

Lemon juice 

Salt to taste

1. Cut the aubergines into rounds, brush with olive oil and gril until soft. 

2. Cut the sweet peppers into large wedges and roast in the oven until the skin starts to blacken, allow to cool and then remove the skins. Ideally this should be done the day before, I tossed the skinned peppers in a bag with some dried mixed herbs, olive oil and a little balsamic vinegar

3. Slice three quarters of the halloumi and grill until golden brown. Grate the remaining halloumi, the Comptoir Libanais recipe suggests rinsing to remove some of the salt, however I tasted the cheese I had and it wasn't particulary salty. As I wasn't adding any seasoning to the aubergines I decided to omit the rinsing step

4. Preheat the oven to 200C, while the oven is heating prepare the aubergine stacks using 3 aubergine slices per stack. Place an aubergine slice on a baking tray, top with some of the muhammara (if using) then a piece of red pepper. Add another aubergine slice, some more muhammara and then top with the grilled halloumi. Finally place the remaining aubergine slice on top and sprinkle over a little of the grated halloumi

5. Bake for 25-30 minutes until sizzling

6. While the aubergine stacks are baking prepare the zaatar sauce. In a blender add the coriander, tarragon, zaatar, lemon juice and a glug of olive oil. Blend and adjust seasoning to your taste 

6. Drizzle some of the sauce on top of the stacks and eat!