What I found in my refrigerator today:
- 1 leek, 4 weeks old, not too fresh
- 1 eggplant, about 5 weeks old, slightly wrinkled
- 250g mushrooms, about 4 weeks old, with brownish spots
- 500g tomatoes, about 2 weeks old, in comparatively good shape
Time to get rid of the stuff. I removed the driest bits from the leek and chopped the remainder into smallish bits, cut the eggplant into cubes, cleaned the mushrooms, removing the brownish spots and cutting them (the mushrooms, not the spots) into slices. I briefly boiled the tomatoes, skinned them and cut them into cubes, too.
To complete the recipe, I needed this:
- 1 smallish onion, finely chopped
- ½ cup (125ml) olive oil
- 1 pinch thyme
- 1 pinch coriander powder
- salt
- pepper
Heat the oil and fry the chopped onions and the chopped leek until the onion becomes transparent. Add the eggplant cubes. They will soak up most of the olive oil (add some more if necessary). Fry for a few minutes, then add the sliced mushrooms and fry some more until the mushrooms begin to shrink.
Add the tomatoes, salt, pepper, coriander and thyme. As the eggplant loses water, a thick sauce should develop. Add a tiny bit of water if necessary.
Let simmer for at least 10-15 minutes. This should be a very thick sauce that must not, under no circumstances, be watery. Serve with rice and/or white bread.
You can also cook this with fresh ingredients.
