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Melanzane Parmiagiana

Updated: 30 Apr 2015

Ingredients

  • Olive oil
  • 2 garlic cloves
  • 1 onion
  • 3 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 1 tsp dried sage
  • 2x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tbsp golden caster sugar
  • 1 and 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 3 large aubergines, sliced lengthwise as thinly as you can
  • 50g parmesan cheese, grated
  • 60g breadcrumbs made from granary bread (chunky is good)
  • 30g pine nuts
  • 1x 125g ball mozzarella cheese
  • Basil leaves or dried basil

Method

  1. Finely chop the onion and garlic; saute until golden in a medium saucepan. Add the thyme and sage and cook for a few moments; then add the tomatoes, vinegar, and sugar. Simmer for about 20-25 minutes until it has started to reduce and thicken slightly. Add a little salt and pepper.
  2. Slice the aubergine lengthwise as thinly as possible (so that it resembles lasagne sheets). Heat a frying pan. Brush the aubergine with a little oil or dirzzle some in the pan; fry the aubergine slices in batches, a few moments on each side until it just starts to take on a little colour.
  3. Preheat the oven to 180C.
  4. Roughly tear / chop the bread and combine with a quarter of the parmesan cheese and the pine nuts. Set to one side. Chop the mozzarella into small pieces.
  5. In an oven proof dish (blue oven dish for two portions) spread a little of the tomato sauce over the base, then add your first layer of aubergine slices.
  6. Spoon over more sauce, scatter mozzarella, parmesan, and basil.
  7. Add another layer of aubergine, then sauce, mozzarella, parmesan, and basil. Repeat until you reach the top of the dish. The final layer will be aubergine, then tomato sauce, then top with the reserved cheesy parmesan breadcrumbs and pine nuts.
  8. Chill and refirgerate / freeze, or bake for 30-40 minutes at 180C until the top is crisp and golden and the tomato sauce is bubbling. Remove from the oven for 10 minutes then dish. Garnish with fresh basil; goes well with focaccia to mop up the sauce.

N.B If the aubergine hasn't been fried for long enough, there may be some excess fluid in the dish upon serving. Consider adding some of the breadcrumbs at the base when assembling in order to avoid this.