The wonderful Moroccan dish, zaalouk and quick preserved lemons in 24 hours

A downsizing take on on zaalouk that reduces its calorie density but not its deliciousness, and preserved lemons that take 5 minutes to prepare and 24hrs to be ready.

Hello and welcome to the Downsizing Diva.

I am just making zaalouk for lunch tomorrow – to go with a slow-roast shoulder of lamb – and I realised that most of my lovely readers haven’t seen this post from over a year ago. It’s one of my all-time favourite recipes and also one of the easiest.

As well as zaalouk, I included a recipe for quick preserved lemons from Bee Wilson’s wonderful book, The Secret of Cooking. If you haven’t read it, it’s full of brilliant ideas, and a great resource for Food-Giant slaying.

I first encountered zaalouk, a Moroccan aubergine and tomato dish, in Casablanca by Nargisse Benkabbou. Every time I make it, I tell myself to make lots so there will be some left over for the next day, and every time, I do make lots, and there’s never any left over. The obvious remedies for this are a) fewer friends, b) hide it, or c) stop making it taste so delicious, but I haven’t yet tested any of them out. Luckily it’s very easy to make, and I can eat other things the next day.

But before I get onto the recipes, in case you haven’t immediately laid hands on a copy of The Secret of Cooking, and therefore not yet read the chapter on sharpening your knives, SHARPEN YOUR KLNIVES. End of shouting. There will be no more shouting unless you don’t SHARPEN YOUR KNOIVES.*

*Spelling mistakes have been left in situ to remind me what happens when I shout.

If you are worried that you might ruin your knives by doing it wrong, if your knife is blunt it is already ruined: you can’t make it worse but you might make it better. I am an indifferent knife-sharpener, but I have kept the only knife I ever use – an 8-inch carbon-steel Sabatier chef’s knife – very sharp and unruined for well over 40 years with an ordinary steel. I do not have grinders, whet stones, or Old Tom Cobbly. I have no doubt that they could be useful, but they will add faff. The sharpening that works best on knives is the sharpening you actually do.

Essentially, if the knife gets a bit sharper, you’re doing it right. If it doesn’t, try another tack. If your knife is really blunt, ignore the bit about Tom Cobbly, because you may need one of those pull-through grinders as well as the steel.

Quick Preserved Lemons

• Unwaxed lemons

• Flaky sea salt

• Extra virgin olive oil

I used about a tablespoon of salt per lemon. One lemon nearly filled a medium sized jam jar.

Very thinly sliced salted lemons

1. Very thinly slice a lemon. If you see pips, hoick them out.

2. Put in a bowl, add salt, and mix.

3. Leave for 30 minutes and go and write a novel*.

4. Put in a clean jar and cover with olive oil. Make sure the lemon is completely submerged.

5. Keep in the fridge with the lid on for up to two months

*You do not have to write a novel in order for recipe to work, but if you do, plan on making it a short one: 30 minutes is cutting it fine for War and Peace.

Diva Notes

Cutting thin slices:

I used a mandolin to get the slices really thin. I often use a mandolin and am not sure if it’s because I believe I am a careful person who would never be so silly as to slice bits off my fingers (I am not a careful person; the jury’s out about silly), or I’m not too fussed about losing (thinly sliced) bits of my fingers.

The finger-friendly option is to use the slicing blade in your food processor. Or a very sharp knife.

Sterilising jars

I am slovenly on the subject unless I am planning to keep something a very long time or give it as a present. They do need to be clean – very hot soapy water or the hot cycle in the dishwasher. If you want to be sure it’s sterilised, put it in a hot oven for 10 minutes.

Zaalouk

Serves 4

This spicy tomato and aubergine Moroccan dish is one of my absolute favourites – wonderful blasts of flavour and very, very easy. It can be part of a meze, or served with lentils, a big green salad, and perhaps some thinly sliced chicken breast tossed with salt, pepper, thyme and olive oil, and quickly cooked on a hot griddle. I rather like a bowl of it with a dollop of greek yogurt and some of the quick-preserved lemons.

• 500g Tomatoes

• 500g Aubergines

• At least 3 cloves of garlic

• 1 tablespoon of lemon juice

• 1 – 2 tablespoons of honey

• 1 teaspoon each of smoked paprika, coriander seeds, and cumin seeds

• 1 – 2 small chillies,

• A handful of fresh coriander

• 6 teaspoons of oil

• Salt

1. Chop aubergine into small chunks and roughly chop the tomatoes.

2. Crush the garlic

3. Pound the spices in a pestle and mortar

4. Finely chop the chilli

5. Put them in a bowl with 4 teaspoons of the oil (20ml,) all the other ingredients, and mix well.

6. Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil in a sauté or chef pan, chuck everything in, and cook on a medium heat for about 40 minutes – initially with the lid on, and then uncovered. You must ensure that the aubergine is really cooked thoroughly, and the tomato is dense and sweet.

7. Check the seasoning and add more salt if necessary.

8. Roughly chop the coriander and scatter on top before serving.

Diva Notes

Downsizing Tomato Sauces

Mixing all the ingredients really well in a bowl and then chucking it all straight into a pan both saves a lot of faff re sautéing things first, and means you can use far less oil but still end up with sauces that taste wonderful. Any recipe for a tomato-based sauce can be adapted using this method. It is an idea of consummate genius, and I am confidently awaiting my Nobel Prize for services to cooking. Although when I rang them to see if it had got delayed in the post, I got cut off, so I cannot give you a date yet.

N.b. This does not apply to sauces with onion in it: onions must be sautéed first or the world will end.

Aubergines

This is a particularly good way of cooking aubergines because they can taste amazing without using 5 litres of olive oil. If your downsizing allows for lots of olive oil, use as much as you like.

Size Matters

The aubergine must be cut into small chunks so it cooks at about the same rate as the tomatoes: undercooked aubergine is an abomination – like eating a flannel. If you haven’t tried eating a flannel, don’t.

The exact proportion of tomatoes and aubergine is not vital – it usually depends on what I have in my fridge – but half a kilo of each is about right and will serve four. I strongly suggest you make at least double that quantity.

Fresh Coriander

If you don’t like it or can’t find it, leave it out.

Chilli Heat

Do not use annihilatingly hot chillies when cooking for friends. Friends are a good thing, and it is better not to annihilate them.

Even if they do eat up all your zaalouk.