Velvety aubergines layered with a rich tomato sauce, topped with cheese and baked! My kind of heaven. if you’re an aubergine fan, give this a try.

What you need

• 1 large aubergine, sliced lengthways nice and thin

• 4 tomatoes, chopped fine

• 1 red onion, chopped fine

• 4 garlic cloves, sliced fine

• Vegetable stock cube

• 100 ml boiled water

• 1 tbsp tomato pureé

• 1/2 cup Mozzarella cheese, grated

• 1/2 cup parmesan, grated

• Oregano or parsley ideally. Basil is nice too though

• Salt and pepper

• Olive oil

What you do

1. Heat olive oil in a pan, and cook your aubergine slices for a few minutes on each side until brown. You’ll need to do this in batches. Keep aside

2. Add a drizzle of olive oil to the same pan and when hot, add the chopped onions. Cook until they start to soften

3. Add the chopped garlic, sauté and cook for a couple of minutes

4. In go the chopped tomatoes. Give everything a good stir, and allow to cook for 5 - 8 minutes, stirring every now and then, until the tomatoes break down

5. While the tomatoes are cooking, dissolve the stock cube in 100 ml of hot water

6. Then add the tomato pureé, salt and pepper, a handful of fresh herbs finely chopped or a couple of level teaspoons if using dried herbs

7. Add the stock. Mix through and simmer for 5-8 minutes until you have a lovely thick sauce

8. Preheat your oven at 180 (fan), grease a baking dish with a bit of olive oil

9. Now to layer! Aubergine layer followed by tomato sauce followed by aubergine etc, ending with tomato sauce

10. Then sprinkle the cheeses on top

11. Into the oven for 30 minutes, until the cheese has browned and the parmigiana is all wonderful and bubby

That’s it! Serve with garlic bread or sourdough toasts :D

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