Vegetables Baked with Adyghe Cheese and Olives

Kateryna Bondar
Vegetables Baked with Adyghe Cheese and OlivesVegetables Baked with Adyghe Cheese and Olives
Cuisine
Course
Serves 4 people
Cook Time
20m

A summer dish where grilled vegetables, eggplant, zucchini, and sweet pepper, meet fried Adyghe cheese in a breadcrumb coating and a bright olive sauce. The vegetables are first browned on a grill pan and then briefly finished in the oven with thyme, so they stay firm and aromatic.

The Adyghe cheese plays the central role here: it doesn’t melt completely but only takes on a golden breadcrumb crust, staying firm inside. A sauce of olives, parsley, garlic, and lemon adds a salty-tart Mediterranean note.

Tips and Substitutions

If you swap the Adyghe cheese for suluguni or goat cheese, the dish comes out more piquant. In the sauce, capers can stand in for the olives; the saltiness becomes sharper and brighter. Don’t skip salting the eggplant: 2-3 minutes under salt removes the bitterness, after which be sure to blot the moisture. Roll the cheese in breadcrumbs only just before frying, otherwise the coating goes damp and falls off.

Serve warm, with the sauce on the side or poured over. The dish is good both as a hot main and as a room-temperature appetizer.

Part of Caucasian cuisine — 10 more recipes in the section.

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Ingredients

  • 1
    eggplant
  • 1
    zucchini
  • 2
    sweet peppers (2-3 pcs)
  • 350 Grams
    Adyghe cheese
  • 4 Tablespoons
    fine breadcrumbs (4-5 tbsp)
  • 10 Tablespoons
    oil
  • 5
    sprigs of thyme
  • 1 Pinch
    dried chili (optional)
  • salt
  • For the olive sauce:
  • 100 Grams
    pitted olives
  • 5
    sprigs of parsley
  • 0.25
    juice of 1/4 lemon
  • 5 Tablespoons
    olive oil (5-6 tbsp)
  • 1 Piece
    garlic clove
  • salt

Instructions

  1. Cut the eggplant and zucchini into 1 cm rounds. Cut the sweet peppers into large strips and the Adyghe cheese into fairly thick pieces, then roll the cheese in breadcrumbs. Salt the eggplant rounds on both sides and leave for 2-3 minutes to draw out the bitterness, then blot with a paper towel. Heat a grill pan well, pour in oil, and fry the vegetables in small batches until golden on both sides.

  2. Transfer the vegetables to a parchment-lined baking sheet. In the same pan, fry the Adyghe cheese and add it to the vegetables. Scatter with thyme leaves, add ground chili if you like, drizzle with oil on top, and place in an oven preheated to 220°C (425°F) for 7 minutes.

  3. Make the olive sauce: put all the ingredients in a blender, add a pinch of salt, and blend into a smooth mass with pieces of olive.

  4. Serve the baked vegetables and cheese with the sauce.

Nutrition: Calories: 480 kcal · protein 16 g · fat 40 g · carbs 16 g (per serving, estimated)

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