Eggplant With Pistachios & Sumac, Feta & Yoghurt Dressing

Recipes & food styling Marc Weir / Photography Amber-Jayne Bain

	FOR THE SUMAC, FETA & YOGHURT DRESSING
	150g Greek yoghurt
	100g feta
	1 clove garlic, finely grated or crushed
	1 teaspoon sumac
	juice of ½ lemon
	4 tablespoons olive oil
	3 teaspoons cold water
	salt and pepper
	FOR THE CHARRED EGGPLANT SALAD
	3 eggplants
	½ cup olive oil, plus 3 tablespoons extra for dressing the salad
	3 cloves garlic, finely grated or crushed
	1 head green witlof, leaves separated
	30g parsley sprigs
	70g pistachios, toasted

1.	FOR THE SUMAC, FETA & YOGHURT DRESSING
2.	Put all ingredients into a food processor and process until smooth.
3.	Loosen with more cold water if too thick. Can be made up to 5 days in advance.
4.	FOR THE CHARRED EGGPLANT SALAD
5.	Cut eggplants into 1cm slices and coat in the olive oil and garlic, ensuring both sides are covered in oil.
6.	Barbecue the slices on a high heat for approximately 5-6 minutes per side, until golden with grill marks.
7.	Once cooked, set aside to cool to room temperature.
8.	Put the eggplant, witlof and parsley sprigs in a large mixing bowl with some Maldon sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, then randomly splatter with the feta dressing and about 2 tablespoons olive oil.
9.	Gently mix by hand, but don’t over mix; you don’t want everything evenly coated in the dressing, just randomly dressed.
10.	Plate onto a large serving platter.
11.	Dress the toasted pistachios in 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle over the salad.
12.	Serve immediately for best results.
13.	NOTE: I often splatter thick viscous dressings onto salads, then drizzle with a little more olive oil, which means when you lightly toss it you have pockets of a thick, full-flavoured dressing scattered throughout the salad rather than it being overworked.