Chablis Wines - Wines Not Just For Christmas

I have been asked by Chablis wines to write about my ideal summer/BBQ food & Chablis wine pairings.  To help get me in the mood I have been sent a bottle of Chablis and a bottle of Petit Chablis.

I love Chablis and don't need an excuse to open a bottle but for a lot of people it is a more celebration wine. I suggest you get the bottles in the chiller and get set to enjoy with a range of summer foods, salads and BBQs! Chablis is a very special Chardonnay from the northern part of the Burgundy wine region in France.

The Chablis I was sent is from Laroche Wines, crisp, fresh with notes of apple and pear and is available from Majestic Wines at a RRP of £14.99. The bottle of Petit Chablis is a wine with loads of freshness and elegance, 100% Chardonnay and unoaked. Also available from Majestic Wines at a RRP £12.99.

My creation is one that can be made outside with the BBQ or inside with a griddle pan.  I  have two beautiful aubergines, large, plump and dark purple which I have sliced thinly.

I lightly oiled the slices and placed them in  batches on a very hot griddle pan and cooked each side for about 4-5 minutes.  The griddle pan ensures the slices get the cooking lines as they would on the BBQ which adds to their appearance.  The weather wasn't great however this works really well on the BBQ. I let the slices cool.

With some super juicy tomatoes I got in the market on Saturday I made a simple but delicious tomato sauce by sautéing chopped onion in a good quality olive oil then adding the chopped (peeled if you want to) tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes.  I added a tin of chopped tomatoes, 2T tomato puree and 2T basil pesto, 2tsp chilli paste or 1tsp Tabasco sauce, salt and pepper and cooked for a further 5 minutes. I then blitzed the sauce and checked for seasonings. Mr R said it was a bit garlicky however I knew adding the aubergine slices and grated cheese would meld the flavours together and produce a really smooth end result.

The next step is to layer the aubergine slices and tomato sauce in a loaf or square pan (I used the new loose bottom square baking pan from the new James Martin Baker's Dozen collection) and sprinkled the top with cheese. 

Depending on what I have in the fridge it could be parmesan or cheddar or a mixture of both.

 

Into a hot oven (180-190C) for about 45 minutes and serve with plain pasta and/or a seasonal salad.

The aubergine has a really sweet taste and complemented the wine totally.

 

A really crisp, cold glass of Chablis served alongside is summer food perfection!

Thanks to Chablis wines for my two bottles. I was not paid to write this post and all opinions and photos are my own.