Recipe: skordostoumbi pasta

Skordostoumbi is a dish found in the Ionian Islands, said Georgina Hayden. It consists of layers of aubergine and tomato, and is heavy on the garlic: its name means garlic cloves. It is traditionally a vegan dish, but here I've roasted it in the oven, with the vegetables surrounding a block of feta. It's super simple but looks impressive, and makes an excellent sauce for pasta. If you want to keep it plant based, just leave out the feta – it'll still be delicious.

Ingredients

• 1 aubergine 
• 6 garlic cloves 
• 400g cherry tomatoes 
• 1 tsp caster sugar 
• 1 tsp Aleppo pepper (or ½ tsp dried red chilli flakes)
• 1 tsp dried oregano 
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 
• 5 tbsp olive oil 
• 2 tbsp red-wine vinegar 
• 1 × 200g block of feta
• 350g spaghetti or linguine (gluten-free, if needed) 
• ½ bunch of basil

Method

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• Preheat your oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6.
• Trim the aubergine and peel off most of the skin — I use a peeler to remove it in strips. Cut the flesh into 2cm cubes and place in a large roasting tray.
• Crush the garlic cloves with the side of your knife, leaving them in their skins. Add to the tray with the cherry tomatoes, caster sugar, Aleppo pepper and most of the dried oregano. Season everything generously and drizzle with four tablespoons of the olive oil and all the red-wine vinegar. Really massage in the flavours.
• Nestle the feta in the middle of all the ingredients, drizzle with the remaining olive oil, scatter over the rest of the dried oregano and pop the tray into the oven. Roast for 40-45 minutes, until the vegetables are nicely charred and blistered and the feta is
• golden around the edges. 
• When the vegetables are almost ready, bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions. Pick and roughly tear or chop the basil leaves.
• When the pasta is nearly done, remove the tray from the oven. Scoop out about 200ml of the starchy pasta water and mix with the veg and feta in the tray, really crushing in the garlic (removing the skins) and breaking up the feta. Drain the pasta, reserving the water. 
• Toss the pasta through the tray, adding a further 100-150ml of the pasta water, until the juices are creamy and oozy. 
• Finish with the torn basil leaves and serve straight away.

Taken from Greekish: Everyday Recipes with Greek Roots by Georgina Hayden (Bloomsbury Publishing at £26). Photography by Laura Edwards. To buy from The Week Bookshop for £20.99 (incl. p&p), call 020-3176 3835 or visit theweekbookshop.co.uk.

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