Aubergine with buttermilk sauce and pomegranate

 Such a beautiful dish. This wonderful Ottolenghi recipe works very well as a starter, or as a side to a main. I often have it along side a simple fish dish. The flavours are simply delish.
This one in particular was cooked for a recent Love Magazine shoot.

2 aubergines
75 ml olive oil
few springs of Lemon Thyme (normal thyme will do if you cant get it)
1 pomegranate
1 tsp Za'tar
Salt and peper

for the sauce:
140 ml buttermilk
100 ml greek yoghurt
1 garlic clove crushed
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
pinch of salt

Pre heat oven to 200C. Wash aubergines and cut length ways, keep green stalk attached (looks pretty!). With a sharp knife score the aubergine about 3 times diagonally across, then repeat the other way so to create a diamond pattern.

Place the aubergines cut side up on a baking tray covered in baking parchment. With a pastry brush, brush the the aubergines with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper and the lemon thyme. Place in the oven for about 40 mins, until the aubergines are cooked and golden on top. Remove from oven and cool.

Meanwhile deseed the pomegranate. The easiest way to do this is to half it then hold it above a bowl, take a rolling pin and tap the pomegranate until the seeds have all come out.
Whisk the ingredients for the sauce together and keep cool until needed.

To serve place the cooled aubergine on a plate and spoon lots of the sauce down the centre. Next sprinkle with lots of pomegranate seeds, a little za'tar and some lemon thyme.