Slow-cooked marrow borani

foldervegan | summer | starter | fave

slow-cooked-marrow-borani

Meera Sodha

Baked, caramelised marrow and roast tomatoes all smothered in yoghurt for a supreme, Persian dip or starter.

Prep 15 min
Cook 45 min
Serves 4 as part of a main meal

Ingredients

1.5kg marrow, halved, seeds scraped out and discarded, the rest cut into ½cm half-moons [^1]
6 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to finish
500g thick non-dairy yoghurt, with no added sugar
1 garlic clove, peeled
fine sea salt
1 Spanish onion, peeled and sliced into half-moons
400g baby plum tomatoes, halved
½ tsp dried oregano
fresh oregano, to decorate
toasted wholemeal pitta (or naan), to serve

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 240C (220C fan)/475F/gas 9 and line two large oven trays with foil.
  2. Put the marrow into a bowl and drizzle with three tablespoons of oil. Mix so they’re well coated, then spread across the two lined trays. Pop into the oven for 25-30 minutes, until soft and charring in places.
  3. While the marrow is cooking , put the yoghurt in a bowl, grate in the garlic clove, add a half-teaspoon of salt and stir to combine.
  4. In a large, nonstick pan, heat the remaining three tablespoons of oil over a medium to high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring regularly, for about 10 minutes, until the onion starts to turn golden and crisp. Remove and set aside a little of the fried onion for decorating the finished dish.
  5. Add the tomatoes and dried oregano to the pan, and turn down the heat to medium. Cook for five minutes, until the tomatoes are slightly softened, then add 200ml water and a teaspoon and a quarter of salt, and bring to a boil. Add the baked marrow to the pan and cook until all the water has evaporated, leaving a thick, jammy mess of marrow and tomatoes.
  6. To serve, spread out the yoghurt on a serving plate and gently topple the marrow into the centre. Garnish with the fresh oregano and the reserved fried onion, drizzle with plenty of extra-virgin olive oil and serve with a pile of hot toasted wholemeal pitta or naan.

[^1]: Or use large courgettes instead - without discarding the seeds.

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