Name: Charred prawns, eggplant and chickpeas with roast tomato vinaigrette
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 2 eggplant (about 600gm), cut into 2cm dice; 2 garlic cloves, finely crushed; 1 tbsp dried oregano; 160 ml olive oil; 800 gm canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed; ¾ cup oregano, plus extra to serve (firmly packed); 600 gm peeled uncooked prawns, deveined, tails intact; 2 tsp dried chilli flakes; Roasted tomato vinaigrette; 300 gm cherry tomatoes; 1 garlic clove, thinly sliced; ½ tsp caster sugar; 80 ml extra-virgin olive oil (⅓ cup); 2 long red chillies, coarsely chopped; Finely grated rind of 1 lemon, 1½ tbsp juice; 1 tbsp white wine vinegar, or to taste

Here, roasting the tomatoes first brings out their sweetness. Calamari or baby octopus would work well in place of the prawns.

Ingredients

2 eggplant (about 600gm), cut into 2cm dice

2 garlic cloves, finely crushed

1 tbsp dried oregano

160 ml olive oil

800 gm canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed

¾ cup oregano, plus extra to serve (firmly packed)

600 gm peeled uncooked prawns, deveined, tails intact

2 tsp dried chilli flakes

Roasted tomato vinaigrette

300 gm cherry tomatoes

1 garlic clove, thinly sliced

½ tsp caster sugar

80 ml extra-virgin olive oil (⅓ cup)

2 long red chillies, coarsely chopped

Finely grated rind of 1 lemon, 1½ tbsp juice

1 tbsp white wine vinegar, or to taste

Method

1.Preheat oven to 200°C. For vinaigrette, combine tomatoes, garlic, sugar and half the oil in an oven dish, season to taste, and roast until slightly caramelised (15-20 minutes). Transfer to a food processor, add remaining ingredients and process until smooth. Season to taste.

2.Meanwhile, toss eggplant, garlic, dried oregano and 120ml oil in a separate oven dish to combine, season, and roast until eggplant is golden and tender (15-20 minutes). Transfer to a bowl, add chickpeas, oregano and half the vinaigrette, toss to combine and season to taste.

3.Heat a char-grill pan over high heat. Combine prawns in a bowl with chilli flakes and remaining olive oil and season to taste. Grill, turning once, until charred (2-3 minutes).

4.Top eggplant mixture with prawns, drizzle with a little remaining vinaigrette, top with extra oregano and serve with remaining vinaigrette.

Maxwell Adey Senior Food Editor & Stylist

Maxwell has always been passionate about food. Born into a restaurateur and award-winning produce farming family, he was strongly steered into pursuing a career in advertising after completing his Bachelor of Public Communication at University of Technology, Sydney. After a very short stint, he decided to enrol in Commercial Cookery at TAFE to follow his true passion. Maxwell started out working in some of Sydney’s finest restaurants (Est., Claude’s and Moon Park) which helped further his love of all things culinary and developed his technical ability to cook. Later, he was lured into the magical world of food publishing where he freelanced for ten years for notable Australian commercial and editorial brands. He has also run his own business where he sells his marinated olives, dressings and sauces at food markets and select retailers. He excitingly joins the Gourmet Traveller team to bring his technical and creative expertise in food to the brand.

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Styling by Emma Knowles

Ingredients

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