Baked Aubergine Mousse with Rosemary and golden Polenta Slices

This pale aubergine mousse isn't a beauty but its taste and smooth texture make up for it! Something changes in the purple fruit's flavour when it has been cooking in the oven. If you fry it in a pan or cook it in a stew it's nice but only oven baking manages to extract the aubergine's finer qualities. Sliced, grilled and filled like my aubergine rolls or baked in foil which turns the aubergine into a soft mousse. Both recipes leave no doubt as to why aubergines are so popular in Mediterranean cooking!

Baking aubergines al Cartoccio together with spices and herbs allows them to become infused with lots of different flavours. The spongey flesh, its soft texture is perfect to absorb tasty liquids and aromatic steam which is why they are also know to soak up so much olive oil! Rosemary was my herb of choice this time which I also used for the golden fried polenta slices. I'm a big fan of this yellow corn, either turned into a thick purée and mixed with gravy and meat or fried, buttery and crisp.

Baked Aubergine Mousse with Rosemary and golden Polenta Slices

For 2-3 people you need

• aubergine, cut in half, 1

• garlic, 4 cloves in their skin

• rosemary, the needles of 3-4 sprigs

• olive oil 2 tablespoons

• salt and pepper

Set the oven to 200°C / 390°F.

Place the aubergine on a big piece of aluminum foil, sprinkle with olive oil and some rosemary and season with salt and pepper. Turn the fruit's cut side down, add some more rosemary and the garlic and close the pouch. Bake on a baking sheet for about 40 minutes till soft. Check if the flesh is soft and scrape it out with a spoon. Mix in a bowl together with the soft roasted garlic, some of the roasted rosemary and season with salt and pepper, mash with a fork. 

For the polenta

• polenta 120g / 4 ounces

• water 250ml / 8.5 ounces, plus around 100ml / 3.5 ounces for cooking

• milk 250ml / 8.5 ounces

• salt 1 teaspoon

• olive oil 2 tablespoons plus more to grease the baking dish

• butter for frying 3-5 tablespoons

• rosemary, the needles of 2 sprigs

In a sauce pan, heat the water and milk, add the salt and bring to a boil. Take the pan off the heat, add the olive oil and polenta and whisk. Turn down the heat to the lowest temperature and put the pan back on. Cook the polenta for 10 minutes mixing and adding more water once in a while.

Grease a 28 x 20cm / 11 x 8" baking dish with olive oil. Pour the polenta into the baking dish, let it cool for around 10 minutes. When the polenta is cold and a bit hard, flip the baking dish gently around, either on cling film or directly on your working surface, mine is made of marble and it worked fine. Cut the polenta into diamond shapes and fry in hot butter together with the rosemary on both sides, just for a couple minutes till golden.