Ingredients
| ½ cup buckwheat | |
| ½ cup pitted dry black olives, halved (I used Crespo brand) | |
| ¼ cup capers, drained | |
| ½ teaspoon flaky salt | |
| 5 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra to drizzle | |
| ¼ cup pinenuts | |
| 4 small/medium red onions, peeled and ends trimmed | |
| 2 small/medium eggplants, halved lengthways | |
| 4 medium tomatoes | |
| 2 garlic cloves, crushed | |
| 2 x 425g cans white beans such as cannellini or butter, drained | |
| 2 tablespoons any combination of fresh oregano, thyme and rosemary, finely chopped | |
| 100g parmesan, grated | |
| 2 capsicums, halved and deseeded | |
| 150ml vegetable stock | |
| 250g fresh mozzarella | |
| basil and microgreens, to garnish |
I like to do a range of vegetables for colour: there are plenty for six people, though there won’t be one apiece of everything. The roasted buckwheat and olives make a tasty crunchy topping. I use Crespo pitted dry olives as they dry out even more during cooking, giving a crumbly topping.
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Instructions
| 1. | Place the buckwheat in a bowl and cover with water. |
| 2. | Leave to soak for 1 hour, then drain and rinse. |
| 3. | Heat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan bake. |
| 4. | Put the buckwheat in a bowl with the olives, capers, salt and 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and toss well. |
| 5. | Spread onto a baking tray and bake for 10 minutes, then stir and bake for 10 minutes more until dry and toasted. |
| 6. | Stir in the pinenuts and cook for 5 more minutes. |
| 7. | Cool, crumble with your fingers and store in an airtight container for up to 3 days. |
| 8. | Put the onions in a saucepan, cover with water and bring to the boil. |
| 9. | Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 15 minutes until tender when pierced with a skewer. |
| 10. | Drain and run under cold water. |
| 11. | Cut off about a quarter from the root end of each onion and discard. |
| 12. | Remove the middle of the onion, leaving a shell of about 3 layers of onion. |
| 13. | Chop the onion centres finely. Set aside. |
| 14. | Put the eggplants on a baking tray, cut-side up. |
| 15. | Brush with 2 tablespoons of the oil and season with salt. Roast for 20 minutes. |
| 16. | Remove from the oven and gently cut out the centre of the eggplant flesh. Chop and set aside. |
| 17. | Cut the tops off the tomatoes, carefully scoop out the flesh, chop and set aside. |
| 18. | Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and cook the chopped onion and garlic for a few minutes, then add the eggplant and tomato flesh, beans and herbs and stir to combine, crushing the beans as you stir. |
| 19. | Remove from the heat and stir through the parmesan and season to taste with salt and pepper. |
| 20. | Arrange the onion, eggplant, tomatoes and capsicums in a roasting dish that holds them snugly and fill the vege shells with the bean mixture. |
| 21. | It can be prepared a day ahead to this point. |
| 22. | Heat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan bake. |
| 23. | Pour the stock over and around the vegetables and drizzle with olive oil. |
| 24. | Bake for 35–40 minutes. If you wish, transfer the veges to a warmed serving platter. |
| 25. | Tear the mozzarella into pieces and nestle amongst the veges, scatter with the roasted olive mix and add a few basil leaves and microgreens. |
Recipes & food styling Fiona Smith / Photography Tony Nyberg / Styling Fiona Lascelles
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