Sometimes on a Friday, or occasionally a Tuesday, I'll finish work at 5pm and head from Bond Street to Waterloo Station. The only good thing about working on Oxford Street is that the Jubilee Line can take you straight back home, or to the train to the town that used to be my home. There's something palpable about leaving London at the end of the week. You don't have to dislike the city to be relieved to be away from it; even if where you're going isn't necessarily the most genteel or elegant of places. If it makes you feel calm, then the monochrome and the disrepair don't matter at all.
I don't know what visiting parents represents to other people. Sometimes for me it can be stressful; my parents don't seem to enjoy time spent in each other's company, and that will always be hanging over their house like a shroud of gloom. I can't help but feel comforted, though, by being there. I've been grappling with living in the "Big City" for a long time now, and I think I'm finally forging a sense of a home for myself there. Even so, I now understand the film Kiki's Delivery Service on a whole other level (if one person reads this and understands the salience of that reference then it will be worth it - if not, click here and watch the trailer from 1989).
Stepping off the train into the "once-was" home then feels like I've entered into a routine that I don't feel like I walk within when I'm in London. When I make food in the evening on that Friday night, I usually feel compelled to make the same thing that I might have done on my previous visit. Unless I've had something particular on my mind throughout the work day, I'll head over to the Sainsbury's with every other commuting office worker who needs to find something for the evening, pick up the same ingredients, scan my Nectar card, and head back home. It seems to rain a disproportionate amount on these walks home, though that doesn't seem like an important detail to add.
I'll grab an aubergine, some mushrooms and a bag of parsley, and enough faith in my parents' kitchen to trust that I'll be able to use their store cupboard ingredients. I did try to kick-start a windowsill herb garden to allow me to forgo buying the parsley every time, however Mum has extended her parenthood to include an array of re-potted plants that now people the space; a natural move after all of your children have left the home that you can't really afford anymore.
The structure of the cooking process always remains the same. The ingredients may change if I quest towards something different or, more frequently, some miscellaneous vegetable is on it's last legs and has been slashed in price; then I might be able to integrate it into my plans. Even so, the variable ingredients will be cooked in a rather non-variable way.
What I'm bringing here is a version of something familiar that I make, which has been stretched beyond my usual habits, but not by a lot. The aubergine and the mushroom retain their roles at the front of the stage, with the parsley reprising it's position as the supporting character. I do introduce a few ingredients to push it into firmly (rather than vaguely) Italianate territory; lemon and thyme stand alongside the parsley, as well as a tumbling of black olives to support the veteran vegetables. While I very often just tumble whatever comes out of the saucepan on to a layer of microwave rice, this I felt deserved to be swirled into a pasta accompaniment. Still a denizen of a familiar culinary land, the end product was a rasping, peppery and punchy Aubergine & Mushroom Linguine with Lemon & Chilli.
I've been a little bit intimidated to put my hand into the ring of Italian recipes, without even realising that I had one unconsciously developed and stores over an almost two year period. There's a strangely haughty aura that hangs menacingly over Italian food which has been almost entirely conceived of outside of Italy. While it is perfectly legitimate to create elaborate and even dramatic dishes as a chef or a cook, food is all about context and Italian cuisine can sit perfectly within the realms of simplicity and comfort. In fact, so can most foods when we drop our aspirations to complete authenticity and remember that our tastes come from internal strivings, not external aspirations (though, aspiration is certainly not a bad thing either!)
I usually eat this in my childhood bedroom (which today had my niece's bike, my sister's wedding dress and an ironing board stored in it) while reading a book or watching something on my laptop. A bowl of this pasta works fantastically for that. But if you want to eat this at the dining room table with a lightly dressed side salad of rocket (arugula) and glass of wine, a bottle of Birra Moretti or even a cocktail (yes, FOTB Keith is here again!) then you will not be left feeling as if you needed something fancier. I very rarely eat at a table (and do not have a dining room at home), but please do if it is where you feel the most comfortable.
Aubergine & Mushroom Linguine with Lemon & Chilli
Preparation time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 15 minutes
Serves: 2
Ingredients
1 medium-sized aubergine
250g of chestnut mushrooms
3 tbsp + 2 tsp of extra virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves
1 tsp of chilli flakes
1/2 tsp of dried thyme
1 lemon, juice and zest
30g of curly parsley
50g of whole, pitted black olives in brine
150g of linguine
1 tsp of sugar
Salt and pepper to taste
Method
Slowly heat a pan of water; you can prepare the ingredients as this comes to the boil.
Crush each garlic clove and mince. Remove the stalk from the curly parley, and finely chop the leaves. Finely grate the zest of the lemon and put everything aside with the chilli flakes and the dried thyme.
Slice the aubergine into inch-thick cross sections and then slice these into strips of a width of about 1.5 cm. Cut the chestnut mushrooms into thin slices.
Add the 3 tbsp of olive oil to a large saucepan and warm over a medium heat. Add the parsley, garlic, chilli, thyme and lemon zest into the pan and fry lightly for 3 minutes. This will allow the oil to infuse with the flavours of the ingredients.
Meanwhile, add the linguine to the boiling water, and add 1 tsp of olive oil and 1/2 a tsp of salt.
Add the aubergine to the saucepan and squeeze the lemon juice in before turning up to a high heat. Stir the aubergine until it has been folded in fully. Once the mixture has come to the boil, turn down to medium-low heat and clamp the lid on the pan. Cook on this heat for 6 minutes.
Add the mushrooms, black olives and 1 tbsp of the black olive brine. The addition of the brine will act as a savoury counterweight to the raspiness of the lemon, olive oil and chilli.
Stir the pan and bring to the boil once again. Turn down to a medium-low heat, replace the lid and cook for a further 6 minutes.
Once six minutes is up, take the saucepan off of the heat and remove the lid. Meanwhile, check the linguine is cooked to your liking. If so, drain the pasta and divide between your serving dishes (if you are like me then you might find yourself skipping the division aspect...). Add 1 tsp of olive oil, and a small sprinkle of salt and pepper to the linguine and fold in until the pasta is consistently oiled.
Tumble the vegetables onto the pasta bowls. You can stir the vegetables in or have them sitting on top of the pasta based on your preferences. Sprinkle with a small amount of torn parsley and serve.
Notes & Adjustments
If you would prefer the dish to be a little less peppery, you can use regular olive oil instead of extra virgin.
If you want the dish to be MORE peppery then you could stir in 50g of rocket (arugula) in the last 10 minutes of cooking.
Many people do not like aubergines and mushrooms, but any vegetable that doesn't require a longer cooking period (I'm thinking carrots, cauliflower, sweet potato etc...) would work here, although it would result in a bit of a different taste; bell peppers, courgette, asparagus, leek, any kind of green -the list could go on for a while.
In terms of the pasta to use here, technically you could use any and it would be good, but I think you should use a long one. I always prefer linguine over spaghetti, but you could use it anyhow. Tripoline would also be fantastic.
And now, you've scrolled this far just to find out which drink pairing FOTB Keith recommends in his cocktail corner! He opted for the alluringly named Cinnamon Bun. Quite simply, it consists of RumChata and Kahlua; something creamy to counteract the pepper and the zest.
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