In a first, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has supported the charity One Mother To Another by supplying a family favourite recipe for their fundraising cookbook – EATS. You can make the delicious fish with eggplant, almond and preserved lemon bake below.
What You Need
- 2 eggplants, cut 2 cm length wise
- ½ cup roasted almonds, whole or ground (if using ground, lightly toast in a pan)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tablespoon ground coriander powder, toasted in pan until light brown and fragrant
- ¼ teaspoon chilli flakes (optional)
- ½ preserved lemon, skin only (alternatively the rind of 2 fresh lemons could be used, but you would
need to add ½-1 teaspoon salt) - 1 can chopped tomatoes
- salt
- black pepper
- 100g feta cheese, crumbled
- 3 tablespoons fresh herbs, chopped (I used coriander and basil, but parsley and mint would both
work well too) - olive oil
- 4-6 fillets of fresh fish (snapper, gurnard, etc)
Recipe: Rt Hon Jacinda Ardern, Prime Minister of New Zealand
What To Do
- Preheat oven to 220°C grill.
- Place almonds, garlic, coriander powder, chilli and lemon in a blender or food processor, and
process until it forms a crumbly paste. - Lay the eggplant on a baking tray, brush with oil and season with salt and pepper. Place under the
grill until the edges start to brown – about 10 minutes – then turn and grill the other side for further
5 minutes. Alternatively eggplant can be fried in a pan on both sides, until just starting to soften. - Turn oven to bake and reduce heat to 200°C.
- Grease a baking dish with olive oil and lay half the eggplant into the dish. Spread the almond
mixture over the top and cover with remaining eggplant. Pour the can of tomatoes on top and
sprinkle with the feta. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 20- 25 minutes, or until bubbling and hot,
and eggplant is really starting to feel soft. Remove foil for the last 10 minutes. - While this is dish is cooking, take the fish and season with salt and pepper. Pan fry in butter, a
couple of minutes each side. - Serve the dish with on individual plates, with a piece of fish on top and a squeeze of lemon juice.
One Mother To Another is a registered charity that provides gift bags to mums and carers (including some dads/ grandparents/ foster parents) who find themselves going through a difficult time in hospital with a sick child. It was started by 2 Christchurch Mums – Christina and Joy, who have been through these wards and know how hard it can be. The wards they support are the Children’s Acute Assessment Unit (CAAU) and the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU ward) at Christchurch Hospital, as well as the Neonatal Intensive Care Units in Nelson and Southland hospitals. They currently provide a total of 170 gift bags a month to those four wards.
Their aim is to comfort and support mums (and carers) who are in hospital in what can be a very vulnerable and distressing time. They try to bridge the gap between 2 strangers and offer understanding and acknowledgement of their difficulty but mostly they want to put a smile on their face and let them know we care about what they are going through. They hope in some way brighten their day.
You can purchase this cookbook for $35 here, even through the Level 4 lockdown, and as soon as the quarantine is lifted this will be couriered to your door!
