Casserole of Mussels and Aubergines

Name: Casserole of Mussels and Aubergines
Yield: Serves 6
Cuisine: Turkey
Ingredients: 900 g/2 lb fresh mussels; 2 large cloves garlic; 450-550 g/1-1¼ lb aubergines; 225 g/8 oz smallish onions (red ones if possible); white wine vinegar for sprinkling; 300 ml/½ pint white wine or cider; 400 g/14 oz tin tomatoes; 2 teaspoons sugar; 2 tablespoons tomato purée; 15 g/½ oz pine kernels; 3 tablespoons olive oil; handful fresh dill; salt; black pepper

Preparation info

Serves
6

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Josceline Dimbleby’s Complete Cookbook

By Josceline Dimbleby

Published 1997

About

I made this dish after a visit to Istanbul, where large, deep-orange mussels are found in the Bosphorus. Aubergines and pine kernels are the epitomy of Middle Eastern cooking but in Turkey I was surprised to find so much dill, which I had always thought of as a northern European herb.

Ingredients

450-550 g/1-1¼ lb aubergines
white wine vinegar for sprinkling
225

Asia
Turkey
Fish course
Pescatarian
Mediterranean
Gluten-free

Method

Slice the aubergines across, then cut the slices in half, sprinkling them with vinegar as you do so. Rub the slices all over with salt and put them in a colander in the sink to drain while you prepare the other ingredients.

Peel the onions and slice into rings. Peel the garlic and slice across finely. Wash the mussels and scrub them thoroughly, discarding any open ones that do not close