Aubergine ‘steak’ with sourdough molé and hazelnuts

A caramelised aubergine 'steak' is combined with a slow-cooked sourdough mole and hazelnut dukkah in this veg-centric barbecue recipe.

Ingredients

• 4 aubergines
• 8 tbsp of olive oil
• sea saltto taste
• 1 kg sourdough, roughly chopped into 2 inch pieces
• 2 garlic bulbs, cloves peeled
• 150 g ofwalnuts
• 150 g ofhazelnuts
• 100 g of sunflower seeds
• 50 g ofsesame seeds
• 4 dried ancho chillies, halved and de-seeded
• 5 dried pasilla chillies, halved and de-seeded
• 250 g oftomato paste
• 30 g ofground cinnamon
• 30 g ofground cumin
• 20 g ofsmoked paprika
• 500 g of olive oil, plus a little extra for frying
• sea saltto taste
• honeyto taste
• orange zestto taste
• 100 g of sunflower seeds
• 70 g ofpumpkin seeds
• 50 g ofsesame seeds
• 15 g ofMaldon salt
• 10 g ofpul biber chilli flakes
• 100 g ofsesame seeds
• 2 tbsp ofcumin seeds
• 2 tbsp ofcoriander seeds
• 2 tbsp offennel seeds
• 2 tspMaldon salt
• 160 g ofroasted hazelnuts
• 1 tspblack peppercorns

Steps

1. Use a sharp knife to slice the curved edges off the aubergines, lengthways (removing up to 2cm at the thickest part), to create a flat surface, like a steak. Do the same to the other aubergines
2. Light a barbecue for indirect cooking over medium heat
3. Once the flames have died down, heat a cast iron skillet and toast the sourdough pieces until golden all over, tossing regularly. Set aside 
4. Add a splash of olive oil to the hot skillet. Season an aubergine slice with salt, then place it in the skillet and start to cook it slowly. Depending on the heat of your grill, the aubergine slices will take around 3 minutes to caramelise on each side 
5. Remove the aubergine slice from the skillet and rest on the opposite side of the grill to the coals (or, even better, place it on a shelf or rack above your barbecue, where it can absorb the smoke). Repeat the previous frying step with the remaining aubergine slices before placing them to the side of the coals too
6. Heat the olive oil in the skillet over a low heat and fry the garlic cloves until golden, then drain through a sieve (reserving the oil) and set aside
7. Reheat the oil and fry the nuts until beginning to colour, then drain the oil through a sieve (again reserving the oil) and set the nuts aside
8. Repeat the frying and draining process with the seeds
9. Toast the ancho and pasilla chillies over the hot coals until fragrant, then chop roughly
10. Heat a splash more oil in the skillet and fry the chopped chillies for 1 minute. Drain and set aside
11. Add the tomato paste to the oil and cook out, stirring, for a minute or two
12. Transfer the sourdough, garlic, nuts, seeds, cinnamon, ground cumin and smoked paprika to a stockpot, then fill with enough water to just cover everything
13. Cook gently over a low heat for 4 hours, stirring occasionally and making sure the water level stays the same throughout the cooking time 
14. Blitz everything to a smooth sauce, then pass through a sieve to remove any lumps
15. Season the mole with salt, honey and orange zest to taste
16. To make the sunflower seed gomasio, toast the sunflower, pumpkin and sesame seeds in a dry pan until starting to colour
17. Transfer to a Thermomix with the salt and pul biber and blitz on speed 4 for 10 seconds
18. To make the dukkah, toast the sesame, coriander, cumin and fennel seeds in a dry pan until fragrant, then transfer to a blender with the salt, peppercorns and half of the hazelnuts and blend on high speed blend for 10 seconds. Stir through the reserved nuts 
19. To assemble the dish, divide the aubergine steaks between 4 plates, drizzle with the molé (at least 2 tablespoons, but as much as you want), then sprinkle with the hazelnut dukkah