Roasted Aubergine and Lentil Soup

It was one of those situations, where I didn’t have a lot in the fridge and had to ‘jazz it up’ as I went along. I had one aubergine and just few cupboard basics. I never thought of adding aubergine to any of my soups before. “What a mistake-a to make-a”!  It works perfectly in a soup. I actually prefer it to potato. This soup is rich, earthy, with a subtle hint of spice, a good helping of garlic and gentle Mediterranean aromas. You can adjust the spice level by adding less/more chilli of course. The soup goes very well with these stout & honey buns.

ROATED AUBERGINE AND LENTIL SOUP

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons of olive oil

1 aubergine, cubed

1 onion, finely chopped

1-2 carrots, depends on size, chopped

1 teaspoon of ground cumin

1 teaspoon of herbs of your choice (I had oregano)

1 teaspoon of paprika

pinch of sugar

1 cup of puy lentil

2 cans chopped tomatoes in its own juice or about 500gr fresh tomatoes, chopped

approx 3-4 cups of water/stock, depends how thick you like your soup to be.

2 teaspoons of red wine vinegar (optional)

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or minced

1 chilli, finely chopped (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

parsley/seeds to garnish (optional)

Method:

1. Heat oven to 200C. Arrange the cubed aubergine in a single layer on a baking sheet, drizzle with some olive oil, mix well and roast for about 20 minutes or until tender and nicely brown.

2. Preheat the rest of the oil in a cooking pot, add onion and carrots and cook them for 5-7 minutes.

3. Then add the spices, herbs, sugar, lentil, tomatoes, water/stock. Bring it to boil, then reduce the heat, cover with the lead and cook it until the lentil is cooked.

4. When the lentil is cooked and tender, add the roasted aubergine to the soup, along with red wine vinegar, garlic and chilli. Season well with salt and pepper.

Hungarian Chicken Paprikash (Paprikás Csirke)

Here is the classic, authentic, easy to prepare, one of the most famous Hungarian dishes – Chicken Paprikash  (Paprikás Csirke). Having tasted and cooked a few versions of the this dish myself, this recipe (below) is the closest to authentic as you can get. You can serve it with rice, pasta or potato, but I recommend to serve it with homemade Spaetzle.

HUNGARIAN CHICKEN PAPRIKASH

Ingredients:

about 650 g chicken – drumsticks and thighs

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

2 tablespoons paprika

1 cup water/chicken stock

2 tablespoons plain flour

1/2 cup sour cream

salt to taste

Method:

1. Heat a heavy bottomed pan over medium-high heat until hot, add oil.
2. Season the chicken pieces with salt.  Then add the chicken to the pan and fry the chicken undisturbed until golden brown on both sides, turning over half way. Transfer the chicken to a bowl.
3. Drain the excess oil from the pan, then add the onion, garlic, sauté until it golden and translucent. After about 7 minutes, add paprika and pepper flakes, fry, stirring constantly for 3 more minutes. Add the water or chicken stock, return the chicken pieces back to the pot along with any accumulated juices, season with salt to taste. Continue cooking on a medium heat until the meat falls off the bone, for about 45 minutes or longer if necessary.
4. Mix the flour and sour cream into the paste. To avoid the sour cream to split, add some cooking liquid from the chicken a spoonful at a time to the cream mixture and stirring after each addition.
5. When the chicken is ready, add the sour cream and flour paste to the pot and stir to combine. Cook until mixture is thick. Do not allow to boil otherwise that sauce will split.

 SPAETZLE (HUNGARIAN DUMPLINGS)

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

2 eggs

¾ cups water

1 tablespoon butter, melted

Method:

1. Preferably if you make the spaetlze while you are waiting for chicken to cook, as these dumplings are the best eaten as soon as they are made.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil.
3. Whisk together flour and salt in a medium bowl. Make a well in the middle and add the eggs, water and butter. Stir until the batter is smooth and thick
4. Drop batter into boiling water with a spoon, dipping the spoon into the water each time. You can make these larger or smaller as you prefer. Alternatively, you can use a Spaetzle Maker.
5. Stir the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon, so that the dumplings will rise to the top. After the dumplings rise to the top, let them boil about 2 minutes more.
6. Remove to a large colander and drain. If you wish, you can add some olive oil or butter to the dumplings. It is not essential, but I like the taste and it’ll help avoid dumplings sticking together.