Roast eggplant, farro and chickpea layered salad with tahini sauce

Recipe by Saskia Ericson of ‘One Equals Two’, Serves -47

Ingredients

250g (9 oz) dried chickpeas, soaked overnight 2½ cups (500g) cracked farro
1 large red (purple/Spanish) onion, quartered and very thinly sliced
3 cups chopped flat-leaf parsley, plus extra
1 lemon, juiced (approx. ¼ cup juice)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
¼ teaspoon salt Freshly-cracked black pepper 2 medium eggplants, thickly sliced
Salt, extra, for sprinkling on eggplant
2 tablespoons olive oil, for brushing on eggplant
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved Double quantity tahini sauce

Method

Drain soaked chickpeas, place into a large saucepan and cover with water. Bring to the boil. Simmer for 40–50 minutes until just tender. Take care not to overcook them; they should retain a bit of bite. Drain again and place in a large bowl.
Meanwhile, place the farro in a large saucepan of water, bring to the boil and simmer for 25 minutes. Drain, rinse and drain again. Spread cooked farro out on a tray to dry for ten minutes. Add to the chickpeas. Allow to cool, then stir through the red onion and parsley. Reserve ½ of the undressed chickpeas, farro, red onion and parsley (about 6 cups) for the Falafel with farro and chickpeas.
Place lemon juice, extra virgin olive oil and salt in a screw-top jar and shake well until combined. Drizzle over the remaining chickpeas, farro, red onion and parsley; add pepper, and toss gently. Arrange on a large platter.
To prepare eggplant, preheat oven to 200°C (390ºF). Season eggplant slices with the extra salt. Set aside for 10 minutes. Rinse slices with water, pat dry with a clean tea towel and brush with olive oil. Place on a large baking tray lined with baking paper. Roast for 30 minutes. Chop roughly and arrange on top of the dressed chickpeas, farro, red onion and parsley; followed by the chopped tomatoes. Drizzle with tahini sauce, and scatter with extra parsley.

Print
‘One Equals Two’ is about preparing two meals from one; so half the farro salad (minus the top vegetable layer) can be set aside to be put to use in my Falafel with Farro and Chickpeas recipe. By making use of the reserved salad components, the falafel groundwork is done; namely the chickpea and farro preparation, onion slicing and parsley chopping. The mixture is simply tipped into your food processor with 4 extra ingredients, rolled into balls, fried, and voila! Lovely moist falafel with a crispy coating; on your table in no time

Recipe Ingredients from the Mount Zero Range

Top