There’s a special place in our hearts for aubergine. Queen of the vegetables, it has a creamy, versatile centre which tastes delicious whether layered with cheese, chopped into a coconut curry or drizzled with soy and thyme honey (as we have here).

Although we’re not able to host dinner parties right now, we have seen entertaining related trends such as tablescaping, home bars and beautiful glassware doing the rounds on social media – so we’re already planning what we’ll make when our friends are allowed to visit again.

Enter: aubergine aka the perfect entertaining dish. It’s vegan and vegetarian friendly, has an all round palatable taste (read: undeniably yummy) and is light enough to leave plenty of room for dessert and cocktails. 

Greek restaurant Mazi, which is located in London’s Notting Hill, has a cult-following and is master of aubergine recipes. Aubergine is a staple of Greek cuisine and we love the creative ways this restaurant incorporates it into its menu, particularly this grilled aubergine recipe with soy and thyme honey.

Below you can find the full recipe straight from the chefs who work at this restaurant’s esteemed kitchen, for you to make at home. Enjoy!

Grilled aubergine dip with soy and thyme honey recipe 

Note: this recipe serves eight, please half ingredients for four people. 

Main dish ingredients:

• 9 large aubergines 
• ½ white onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 4 spring onions, cut in small rounds
• 4 medium ripe tomatoes
• 1 small bunch of flat leaf parsley, chopped
• salt for seasoning 

Thyme honey and soy vinaigrette ingredients:

• 50ml dark soy sauce
• 50ml extra virgin olive oil
• 50g thyme honey

Balsamic vinaigrette ingredients:

• 10ml dark soy sauce
• 60ml extra virgin olive oil
• 25g thyme honey
• 15ml balsamic vinegar

Instructions:

1. Grill each aubergine directly over a high gas flame or electric hob until they are smoked, the skins are blackened and they are soft inside. Approximately 15 minutes each. If you have a grill or a BBQ, you can cook them there.
2. Remove from the fire and let them cool down. Then, cut them in two and spoon out the flesh. 
3. Leave the flesh to drain for at least 30 minutes in a colander. Once it is ready chop roughly but make sure there are no big chunks left. 
4. In the meantime, prepare the two vinaigrettes starting with the thyme honey and soy one. Mix all the ingredients in a small bowl with a hand blender and set aside.
5. Follow the same procedure for the balsamic vinaigrette. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl with a hand blender and set aside.
6. Place a pot with four tablespoons of olive oil onto a high heat and sauté the onion until it becomes soft. 
7. Add the garlic and the aubergine flesh and keep on stirring until there are no liquids left and it has a dark, smoky colour. Add the soy and thyme honey vinaigrette into the pot, cook for another two minutes and remove from the heat. 
8. Place into a big bowl and allow to cool down.
9. While it’s cooling down, cut the tomatoes in half, remove the seeds and then dice the flesh.
10. Once the aubergine reaches room temperature add the balsamic vinaigrette and stir gently. Add the tomatoes, spring onions, parsley and a good pinch of salt and mix well. Add tortilla chips to dip!

Images: Mazi