Baked eggplant with goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, pumpkin seed pesto and chopped hazelnuts
6 servings
60 minutes
The recipe is taken from the book "Geography to Taste. Latvia" by Nika Ganich.

1
To prepare sun-dried tomatoes, cut the tomatoes in half, season with salt and pepper, and dry them in the oven at 80 degrees for 3 hours.
- Cherry tomatoes: 150 g
- Sea salt: to taste
- Ground black pepper: to taste
2
For the pumpkin seed pesto, blend all ingredients (250 ml olive oil, pumpkin seeds, white balsamic vinegar, a pinch of salt) together.
- Olive oil: 400 ml
- Pumpkin seeds: 200 g
- White balsamic vinegar: 60 ml
- Sea salt: to taste
3
To prepare the 'earth', dry the olives in a combi oven for 25 minutes and blend them.
- Olive: to taste
4
For the green oil, blend the remaining olive oil with herbs.
- Olive oil: 400 ml
- Parsley leaves: to taste
5
Mix goat cheese with cream and add lemon juice.
- Goat cheese: 280 g
- Cream 35%: 100 ml
- Lemon juice: 25 ml
6
Cut the eggplants in half lengthwise, score the flesh in a grid pattern, drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 15 minutes.
- Eggplants: 2 pieces
- Olive oil: 400 ml
- Sea salt: to taste
- Ground black pepper: to taste
7
For serving hot baked eggplants, place them on a plate, decorate with cheese-cream mixture, sun-dried tomatoes, drizzle with pumpkin pesto and green oil, sprinkle with chopped hazelnuts, pea sprouts and 'soil' made from olives. Garnish with greens.
- Eggplants: 2 pieces
- Goat cheese: 280 g
- Cherry tomatoes: 150 g
- Pumpkin seeds: 200 g
- Olive oil: 400 ml
- Hazelnuts: 70 g
- Pea sprouts: to taste
- Olive: to taste
- Parsley leaves: to taste









