Aubergine Parmigiana

Recipe from the Towpath cookbook. Serves 4-6:

-3tbsp olive oil
-3 red onions, finely diced
-4 cloves garlic, minced
-bunch of basil, leaves picked, stalks saved
-2 x 400g tinned tomatoes
-1.5kg aubergines, sliced lengthways into 0.5cm thick slices
-2 x balls mozzarella, torn in pieces
-200g grated Parmesan



Start by making the tomato sauce. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. When warm, add the red onions, garlic, basil stalks and season. Cook until soft and sweet – about 15 minutes.

Add the tin tomatoes, making sure you rinse the tin with water and add all that goodness in too. Stir well and bring to the boil, then turn down to a gentle boil and cook for one hour. Season again and remove the basil stalks. You want the source to thicken, reduce and sweeten.

While the tomato sauce is cooking, lay the aubergine slices on baking trays, well spaced out, rub with oil and season, and put in a hot oven (200c) for about 30 minutes (until brown and soft).

The aubergines and tomato sauce should now be cooked so you can start assembling in an oven dish. Start with a layer of aubergine slices, slightly overlapping them so they are tightly packed in. Season. Spread over a very thin layer of tomato sauce ( this is important – the dish should be dense not saucy!) and season again. Dot some mozzarella over, sprinkle with some Parmesan and scatter over some basil leaves.

Repeat until you have four layers, finishing with mozzarella and Parmesan on top. Add double the amount of Parmesan on the top, but do not scatter the basil leaves on this time as they will go brown and soggy.

Cook in the oven for 30 minutes until brown and crispy. Remove from oven and leave to cool for 10 minutes. Serve with a salad.