Sami Tamimi’s recipes for aubergine dolma bake with a spicy herb and spinach salad | Food

I wanted the comfort of dolma without spending hours coring, stuffing and rolling. Traditionally, for this Iraqi dish of vine leaves, various vegetables are filled with fragrant rice and often with meat, too, making it a true labour of love. This pie captures all those familiar flavours but, by layering everything instead, the vine leaves become silky and tender. A bright, lemony spinach salad adds freshness and contrast.

Aubergine dolma bake

Prep 20 min
Cook 2 hr 15 min
Cool 20 min
Serves 6

2 large aubergines (900g), cut lengthways into ½cm-thick slices
Olive oil
Salt
Pomegranate seeds, to serve
Yoghurt, to serve (vegan, if need be; optional)

For the filling
10-12 vine leaves in brine (40g), rinsed, dried and roughly chopped
1 red onion, peeled and finely chopped (150g)
3 large garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
2 tsp baharat
½ tsp ground turmeric
⅓ tsp ground black pepper
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
2 tbsp lemon juice
350g Egyptian rice (or pudding or risotto rice, as an alternative)
30g mint leaves, finely shredded
50g flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped, plus extra picked leaves to garnish
10g coriander, finely chopped
1 tsp freshly ground coffee

For the sauce
900ml boiling water
80ml lemon juice
2 tbsp tomato paste
Black pepper

Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan)/425F/gas 7 and line two large baking trays with greaseproof paper. Lay the aubergine slices on the lined trays, brush generously with olive oil and sprinkle with salt on both sides. Roast for 20 minutes, flipping the slices once halfway, until they are golden brown, then remove from the oven.

Turn down the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6 and line a high-sided, roughly 22cm x 35cm oven dish with baking paper.

To make the filling, put all the remaining filling ingredients in a large bowl, add two tablespoons of olive oil and one and a half teaspoons of salt, and mix well.

Line the base of the oven dish with just under half the roast aubergine slices, laying them in at a slight angle and just overlapping slightly, so they completely cover the base of the dish. Spoon over the filling, spread it out in an even layer, then top with another layer of aubergine slices, again overlapping them slightly so they cover the filling.

Whisk all the ingredients for the sauce with one and a half teaspoons of salt and a good grind of black pepper, then slowly pour this all over the aubergine bake (it should cover the top), then seal the dish tightly with tin foil. Put the dish on an oven tray (in case of leakage) and bake for 90 minutes, until the liquid is mostly absorbed and the rice is completely cooked through. Remove from the oven – don’t lift off the foil just yet – and leave to rest for 20 minutes.

Remove the foil, then carefully invert the pie on to a large platter. Sprinkle with the pomegranate seeds and a few parsley leaves, and serve warm or at room temperature with the spicy herb and spinach salad below and a good spoonful of yoghurt, if desired.

Spicy herb and spinach salad

Prep 15 min
Cook 10 min
Serves 4

2 lemons, 1 squeezed to get 1 tbsp juice, the other left whole
20g flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked (with some soft stems attached)
10g picked tarragon leaves
15g picked dill leaves
15g mint leaves, roughly torn
4 spring onions (60g), trimmed and thinly sliced at a sharp angle
100g baby spinach leaves
1½ tbsp olive oil

For the seeds
½ tsp white sesame seeds, toasted
½ tsp nigella seeds, toasted
20g pumpkin seeds, toasted
1½ tsp coriander seeds, toasted and roughly crushed in a mortar
½ tsp aleppo chilli flakes, or ¼ tsp regular chilli flakes
Flaky sea salt and black pepper

Put all the ingredients for the seeds in a bowl with a quarter-teaspoon of flaky sea salt, and mix to combine.

Using a small, sharp knife, trim both ends off the whole lemon, then cut down along its round curves, removing the skin and white pith as you go. Release the lemon segments by slicing between the membranes, then roughly chop the flesh. Put this in a large bowl, add the lemon juice, parsley, tarragon, dill, mint, spring onions, spinach, oil, a teaspoon of flaky sea salt and a good grind of pepper, and mix well.

Add half the seed mixture to the spinach bowl and mix to combine. Transfer to a platter or individual plates, top with the remaining seeds and serve at once.