Brungiel Mimli - Maltese Stuffed Aubergines

In Maltese cuisine stuffed aubergines and stuffed marrows are very popular. They are usually stuffed with a minced beef mixture and baked into a hot oven. The smell of them cooking is a classic which one can smell across Maltese towns and villages on a Sunday morning. My mum used to top them up with a slice of cheese and I used to loved them, to be honest when I was a kid I only used to eat the stuffing and obviously get told off for leaving the aubergine on the plate. Now I can say that aubergines are one of my favourite vegetables. Actually, it is quite impressive the fact how your palate starts to settle down when you get older and eat foods that you used to hate when you were a kid. Anyway, try this dish and you won't regret it, they are very easy to prepare. For 2 people you will need...

• 2 large aubergines
• 400g lean beef mince
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley
• 1 teaspoon dried mixed herbs
• 2 tablespoons grated Kefalotiri or Parmesan cheese
• 2 eggs, beaten
• Salt & pepper, to taste
• 2 slices Edam cheese
• Olive oil, for frying

How to...

1. Start by slicing the aubergines lengthwise. With a teaspoon carve out an oval shaped hollow at the wide end of the aubergine. This is where you will put the stuffing. Set them aside. Chop the aubergine flesh. 
2. In a large pan on medium heat, heat some olive oil and fry the fennel seeds until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the onion and aubergine flesh and fry until onion is soft and transparent, about 10-15 minutes. When onion is cooked add the beef mince and cook until cooked thoroughly about 20 minutes. Drain any excess fat. Set aside and let cool down for about 10 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 200°C.
4. Rinse the aubergines from all the salt and pat dry using kitchen towel. 
5. In a large mixing bowl add the onion/beef/fennel mixture, mixed herbs, parsley, salt & pepper, grated cheese and beaten eggs and mix well until well combined.
6. Fill the aubergines and top with half a slice of Edam cheese. 
7. Place into an oven dish, pour a glass or two of water and bake into the preheated oven for about 45 minutes or until aubergines are tender.
8. Serve hot with roast potatoes.

Enjoy!!

R&A

Green Olive Dip

In Malta as is all of the Mediterranean for that matter, olives are part of our daily diet. We use them in salads, pizza toppings, sandwiches, stuffed, to produce olive oil and more. In this tasty and quick recipe we just whizzed up a delicious dip, paste, pâté, tapenade, call it whatever you like. You can serve this at a dinner party with some crackers, use it in salads or even in recipes like our delicious Pasta & Aubergine Bake. Olives are very healthy, in fact they are a great source for Vitamin E and they are great for snacking. Give this recipe a go and am quite sure that everyone at home will love it. You will need...

• 300g green pitted olives, roughly chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• A small bunch of fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Extra virgin olive oil

How to...

1. Put all the ingredients in a food processor and blitz slowly whilst adding the olive oil until you get the desired consistency. Do not put too much as you do not want it too oily and runny.
2. Serve with bread, crackers or whatever you prefer.

Enjoy!!

R&A

Our Bramley Apple Pie

I have loved apple pie since I was a young kid. Amanda was not a big fan of it but recently she started to fancy it. I believe it is one of the most famous desserts in the Western world and it is frequently served with custard, cream or vanilla ice-cream. Mmmmmm, delicious, I want a warm slice now!! Lately we started using ready-made pastry as it is of good quality and it really saves you time in the kitchen. Try this pie out, it is quite easy to do, we sliced the Bramleys using our food processor but you can easily thinly slice them with a knife. We also soaked our raisins in fresh orange juice for about an hour so they plump up and get a unique distinctive flavour. If you have leftover pastry and apple mixture, you can do other small pies! For a 24-25cm pie you will need...

• 1kg Bramley apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
• 140g caster sugar
• 4 tbsp flour
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon ground aniseed
• 70g raisins
• 1 juice of an orange
• 1 sheet ready-made shortcrust pastry
• Flour, for dusting

1. Start by soaking the raisins in the orange juice and set them aside.
2. Preheat the oven to 190°C.
3. In a large mixing bowl put the sliced apples, sugar, 4 tablespoons flour, cinnamon & aniseed and mix them well until apples are coated in sugar and flour. Set aside.
4. Dust the work surface with some flour and roll the pastry sheet, cut it in half and thin it out until it is half size in thickness.
5. Grease a 23 to 25cm pie dish and put half the pastry sheet on the dish, make sure it is loose. Now fill the dish with abundant apple mixture and cover with the other half of the pastry sheet. Seal well the edges and snip the top of the pie with scissors in various parts so as the steam can escape. Sprinkle with some extra sugar.
6. Bake in the preheated oven for about 35-40 minutes. Take out of the oven and leave to set for about 15 minutes.
7. Slice and serve cold or warm, plain, with cream, custard or even vanilla ice-cream.

Enjoy!!

R&A