Braised Aubergines with Spiced Butterbeans & Crispy Garlic

An easy recipe that cuts out 90 per cent of the oil you normally use to cook the aubergine. Instead, I use water to start the cooking process then add beans, chilli, garlic and Tabasco to flavour the dish as aubergines can be pretty bland without all the oil.

Serves 4

PREPARATION TIME 10 minutes

COOKING TIME 45 minutes

4 tsp olive oil

4 onions, chopped

½ tsp chilli flakes

2 large aubergines, cut into 2cm pieces

freshly ground black pepper 400g can butterbeans, drained really well

1 tsp Tabasco sauce

4 garlic cloves, finely sliced

4 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped

• Preheat the oven to 200C/ 180C fan/gas 6.
• Heat 3 teaspoons of the oil in a shallow, ovenproof saucepan. Add the onions, chilli flakes and aubergines, mix well and season with a little pepper. Add the butterbeans, 100ml of water and the Tabasco then cover and bake in the oven for 40 minutes, or until soft and slightly coloured.
• Once cooked, remove from the oven and stir well. Heat the remaining teaspoon of oil in a nonstick frying pan, add the garlic and cook over a high heat to get some real colour, until almost burnt. Add the garlic and the tomatoes to the aubergines then mix well off the heat. Serve.

Cook’s Tip

You could add some extra protein, such as a few prawns, chicken, or some sliced boiled egg.

ENERGY 123kcals PROTEIN 6.2g

FAT 4.7g SATURATED FAT 0.8g

CARBOHYDRATE 15g

TOTAL SUGARS 5g SALT 0g SODIUM 4mg FIBRE 9g