Slow Cooker Aubergine (V/Vg)
Aubergine (or egg plant) is a fantastic vegetable that really benefits from slow cooking. This recipe combines aubergine with butter beans, tomato, balsamic vinegar, garlic, fresh mint and feta cheese, for a combination of sweet and savoury flavours that really hits the spot. Our favourite way to eat this is for lunch, spooned over toasted sourdough bread. Get the prep work done in the morning and enjoy this come lunchtime.
There’s a bit of upfront work with this recipe, by combining most of the ingredients in a hot pan with olive oil. It’s really important to take the time to fry the aubergine well. We’ve experimented with variants of this recipe and if you don’t take this step, you’ll risk ending up with rubbery and bitter aubergine at the end.
Make sure to save the fresh mint for the end. Just chop it up and stir in the pot when the slow cook is finished. When you’ve done that, spoon over toasted sourdough bread, crumble feta cheese on top and drizzle with balsamic glaze.
If you want to make this recipe vegan, just leave out the feta or use a vegan alternative!
Slow Cooker Aubergine
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
- Frying Pan
Ingredients
- 2 tsbp Olive oil
- 2 Aubergines Cut into chunks
- 1/2 Red onion Diced
- 2 cloves Garlic Minced
- 3 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
- 400 g Butter beans Tinned, approx 240g drained
- 400 g Chopped tomatoes Tinned
- Pinch Salt
- Pinch Black Pepper
For later
- 1 Large handful Fresh mint chopped
- 100 g Feta Or vegan alternative
- 1 loaf Sourdough bread
- Drizzle Balsamic glaze
Instructions
- In a hot pan with a 1-2 tbsp of olive oil, add chopped aubergine, season with salt and pepper and fry for 5 minutes until it starts to soften and brown.
- Lower the heat, add red onion and garlic and cook for a further 2-3 minutes.
- Add balsamic balsamic vinegar, tinned tomatoes, tinned butter beans. Stir well and cook for 2-3 minutes more.
- Transfer everything to a slow cooker and cook for 3-4 hours on high.
- Stir in plenty of chopped mint before serving. Spoon on top of toasted sourdough bread, crumble feta on top (or a vegan alternative) and finish with a drizzle of (optional) balsamic glaze. Enjoy!
