Eggplant Satsivi with Walnuts
Description
Eggplant satsivi is my favorite dish from Georgian cuisine. Although it's not really a main dish, but rather an appetizer—yet incredibly delicious and original. The combination of eggplant and walnuts, popular in Georgian cuisine, is showcased here in the most complete and interesting way. From my experience, eggplant satsivi is always a hit both at home and outdoors, although I personally prefer the latter. Well, let's get cooking. Serve the sauce with meat, fish, or use it as a salad dressing.
Instructions
- 1
Step 1
It is better to use young, small eggplants. First, wash the eggplants.
- 2
Step 2
Make a deep longitudinal cut on each eggplant. Slightly above or below it, make another cut. Using a teaspoon, carefully remove a small amount of flesh from each eggplant, creating a pocket in each one. We will later fill these pockets with stuffing. For now, spray the eggplants with vegetable oil and place them in the oven, baking for about 10 minutes.
- 3
Step 3
Place the celery in boiling water and cook for 10-15 minutes.
- 4
Step 4
Place the cooked celery, walnuts, garlic, khmeli-suneli, salt, a little cinnamon, and cloves into the blender bowl. Pour in vinegar and blend until smooth to form a paste.
- 5
Step 5
Finely chopped onion is fried until golden brown, then add nut butter. Simmer over low heat for about 10 minutes.
- 6
Step 6
Fill the baked eggplants with the resulting mixture. Place the eggplants in the refrigerator—they should be served cold.
- 7
Step 7
Serve cold.