EGGPLANT is a versatile fruit and tastes great with Mediterranean flavours like olives, herbs, lemon and garlic.

This is a light lunch or entree option full of wonderful colours and textures and a great dish to make ahead of time as all the components can be put together at the last minute.

Ingredients

Serves 4

2 medium eggplants sliced into 2cm wide slices

2 tbsp. chopped basil

2 tbsp. chopped parsley

3 tbsp. olive oil

Salt and pepper

60g goat's cheese

 60g cream cheese

 3 roma tomatoes

40g green olives, pitted and chopped

40g black olives, pitted and chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

5 leaves of basil, chopped

Zest of 1 lemon

2 tbsp. olive oil

Salt and pepper

40g baby spinach

12 thin slices focaccia or Turkish bread

Method

Pre heat the oven to 200C. Combine the olive oil with the basil and parsley and season with salt and pepper, using a pastry brush cover both sides of the eggplant slices with the herb oil and season with salt and pepper.

Place the slices of eggplant onto a baking tray and bake for 10 minutes, turn the eggplant over and bake for another 10 min- utes. Allow to cool.

Blend the goat's cheese with the cream cheese until smooth. Deseed the tomatoes and dice into 1cm pieces, finely dice the olives and mix in with the tomatoes, add in the garlic, basil and lemon zest, blend with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.

To serve, place a round of eggplant on to a plate and spread with a dessert spoon of the cheese mixture, top with some of the spinach leaves and then another eggplant round.

Spoon over some of the olive salsa and serve with focaccia or Turkish bread.

* Recipe courtesy of Lindeman's Early Harvest Wines.

This recipe is best matched with a Lindeman's Early Harvest Sweet Red.

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