Savory pancake appetizers with smoky aubergine, green bell peppers, miso and scallions.

This week my CSA from Green Gate Farms included beautiful striped aubergines, small bell peppers, and shallots. This recipe is gluten free and wonderful as a starter to your next dinner or BBQ. The bulk of the batter is the aubergine so they are healthy too!

Eggplant-Scallion Pancakes

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 pound aubergine, whole but top removed
1 heads garlic, minced
1/2 small shallot, minced
1 small bell pepper, sliced
1 inch piece ginger, minced
2/3 cup gluten free flour (buckwheat or a mix would work here)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1/4 cup Braggs amino or tamari
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup scallion, thinly sliced on the bias

1/4 cup olive oil

Sauce

1/4 cup Braggs liquid amino or tamari
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1 tbsp mirin
1/2 shallot, minced
2 tbsp scallions, thinly sliced on the bias

Method

Over a high flame, set the aubergines to char. Once completely blackened, set in a bowl and cover with a plate and allow to rest until cool. Peel and pulse in a food processor or blender and set aside.

Mix the eggplant with the remaining batter ingredients in a bowl and stir until well combined.

In a pan, add half the olive oil over medium high heat. The batter will be thick so you will need to spread the pancakes out with a spoon. If you'd rather you can add a little more water to thin the mixture.

You can make them as big as you want. If you want a larger pancake that you can cut into wedges, that is fine but I used about 1/3 cup mixture for each pancake. Brown each side of the pancakes. When you have gotten halfway through the mixture, add more olive oil and continue. Drain the pancakes on a kitchen towel.

Mix the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl and mix. Serve in a small bowl with the pancakes. If you want to make these ahead, they reheat well in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes.