Helen Graham's Harissa Spaghetti with Date & Aubergine Dumplings

A delicious, Middle Eastern spin on a classic dish, spaghetti and meatballs.

Done in 50 minutes

Serves 2

Dish by Guest Contributor

Ingredients

For the smoked aubergine dumplings

2aubergines

120gdates, de-stoned and finely chopped

2 tbspolive oil plus extra for roasting

1 onion, finely chopped

1/2 tspsalt

2garlic cloves, finely chopped

10 sage leaves

1 tspsmoked paprika

100gsourdough, blended to a crumb

1 tbsptamarind paste

1lemon, zest

For the sage and crispy garlic oil

65mlolive oil

3garlic cloves, finely sliced

15 sage leaves

1 tbspnutritional yeast

1/2 lemon, juice

1/4 tspsalt

For the tomato sauce

400ggood quality chopped tinned tomatoes

1garlic clove, lightly crushed

1/4 tspsalt

1 tbspharissa

To serve

200gspaghetti

I am not here for meat sub ‘meatballs’, but I am here for these things, which are kind of just on their own vibe. They’re kind of stuffing adjacent with the breadcrumbs, but the aubergine makes them so light. Combined with the mildly spicy tomato sauce and you're in for a real treat!

Method

Preheat oven to 180C.

Pierce your aubergines a few times with a fork and then burn on a gas hob until totally soft. Allow these to cool in a colander before draining, squeezing out any further liquid and finely chopping.

For the dumplings, add the oil, onions, salt, garlic, sage and paprika to a pan set on a medium heat and saute until soft, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile soak your dates in hot water for 10 minutes, before draining and adding to a mixing bowl along with the aubergines, cooked onions, bread crumbs, tamarind and lemon zest. Mix thoroughly and allow to sit for 10 minutes, before shaping into golf ball sized balls and laying on a lined tray.

Spray these with some extra oil and bake for 25 minutes until golden brown.

For the sage oil, put your olive oil in a small pan and set on a medium low heat. Add the garlic and sage leaves and fry until both are crisp. The garlic will continue cooking after you remove from the heat so be cautious here, but you want to fry for about 4 minutes before tipping the mix over a sieve set over a heatproof bowl to allow the garlic and sage to crisp up.

Once cool, mix the sage and garlic back into the oil and season with the nutritional yeast, lemon juice and salt.

For your sauce, add everything to a saucepan set on a medium heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes, until sweet and jammy.

Meanwhile, cook your spaghetti according to pack instructions. Once cooked, strain, reserve about 200ml pasta water, add the spaghetti to the pan and toss with the reserved water to get a silky sauce. Serve up by plating your spaghetti, topping with the balls and drizzling over the sage oil.