Za’atar Aubergine Schnitzel
The perfect vegan meal if you’re a fan of aubergine and want something satisfying, fresh and flavoursome.
Done in 40 minutes
Serves 2
Ingredients
For the aubergine shnitzel
1aubergine, sliced lengthwise
a big pinchsalt
75gplain flour
1 tspground cumin
1 tspground coriander
a pinchsalt
1/2 tspfreshly ground pepper
75mlplant based milk
100gpanko or coarse white breadcrumbs
1 heaped tbspza'atar
150mlvegetable oil
For the yoghurt sauce
200gvegan greek yoghurt
1/2 tspdried mint
1garlic clove, grated
a squeezelemon juice
to tastesalt and pepper
For the chopped salad
3mini/Persian cucumbers, finely diced
5cherry tomatoes, finely diced
1/4red onion, finely diced
10gfresh coriander, finely chopped
a squeezelemon juice
to tastesalt and pepper
To serve
1 tbsprose harissa
1 tbspolive oil
to servefresh coriander, roughly chopped
2 fresh pitta bread
This is a really easy vegan meal that can be customised. Instead of the vegan mint yoghurt, why not try it with hummus or even a red pepper dip for something a little bit fruitier, if you don't fancy a creamy sauce! The schnitzel is crisp with soft aubergine inside and is perfect when scooped onto a fork or crammed into a pita with lots of sauce and fresh salad.
Method
Place each slice of aubergine onto a large tray and salt both sides. Cover and set to one side.
Mix together all the ingredients for the yoghurt sauce, and season to taste. In another bowl, mix together the cucumber, tomatoes, onion and coriander. Season the salad then cover and place both in the fridge whilst you fry the aubergine.
By now, the aubergine should be covered in little beads of water. Rinse the salt off then thoroughly pat dry with a paper towel.
Mix the flour with the seasonings in a shallow bowl. The add the milk and breadcrumbs with za'atar into 2 other shallow bowls. One by one, place the aubergine slices first into the flour mixture, then the milk and then the seasoned breadcrumbs. Dunk back into the milk and then into the breadcrumbs for a thicker coating. Leave for 5 mins for the coating to bind to the aubergine.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Once hot, carefully shallow fry the breaded aubergine slices for a few minutes on each side, until a deep golden brown. You may have to do this in batches.
Remove the aubergine from the pan and season immediately with a pinch of salt. Serve with the yoghurt, chopped salad, a drizzle of harissa mixed with olive oil and some fluffy flatbreads or pita.
