Aubergine Parmigiana

Tasty aubergine bake!

1hr30

Ingredients:

• 4 large aubergines
• olive oil
• sea salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• dried oregano

For the tomato sauce:

• 2 tins (400g) of tomatoes
• 1 good-quality chicken stock cube (or vegetable)
• 2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)

For the bechamel (white) sauce:

• 50g butter
• 40g flour
• 1 pint of milk
• ground nutmeg

For the breadcrumbs:

• 50g breadcrumbs (processed old bread or breadsticks)
• 50g grated parmesan

Instructions:

 Preheat oven to 180ºC. Slice aubergines lenthways (1cm thick), brush with olive oil and place on 2 big baking trays for 20-30 min until brown and soft.

 While the aubergine is cooking, make the sauces. First the tomato sauce – fry the garlic and small pinch of oregano in a little olive oil for 2mins, then add the tinned tomatoes and stock cube. Simmer for 15-20mins (until the aubergines are ready!).

 Now the bechamel sauce: Melt the butter on a medium heat. Then add the flour and whisk until combined. Add the milk gradually, whisking continuously to avoid lumps. Add pinch of nutmeg, big pinch of salt and some pepper, and bring to the boil until thickened (about 5-10mins), stirring regularly to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom.

 Mix the breadcrumbs, parmesan, a big pinch of oregano, a big pinch of salt and olive oil together until small clumps form.

 Time to make the parmigiana!! Layer up alternating aubergines and tomato sauce and then finish with aubergines, bechamel sauce then breadcrumbs.

Bake for 15-20mins until golden. Leave for 5min to cool slightly, then serve.

TIP: Make sure the sauces and breadcrumbs are well-seasoned with salt as the aubergines counteract a lot of this during cooking.