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AUBERGINE PARMIGIANA

This is such a classic Italian dish. I have lovely memories of eating a great version of this in Italy, at a small, family-run trattoria. The seasoning, texture and flavour were perfect, so this is my attempt at recreating it, outside of Italy!

Serves: 4–6

Preparation time: 30 minutes, plus 1 hour of salting of aubergines

Cooking time: around 2 hours

4 aubergines, cut widthways into 1cm-thick slices

table salt

vegetable oil, for shallow-frying

plain flour, for dusting

3 × 125g balls mozzarella, sliced as thinly as possible

100g grated Parmesan cheese

FOR THE TOMATO SAUCE

50g butter

2 onions, thinly sliced

4 garlic cloves, finely grated

200ml red wine

800g tomato passata or 2 × 400g tins chopped tomatoes

2 tbsp tomato purée

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

½ bunch of sage, leaves finely chopped

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE CRUMB

40g panko breadcrumbs

1 tbsp soft butter

50g grated Parmesan cheese

½ bunch of basil, leaves finely sliced

20g pine nuts, toasted and finely chopped

Sprinkle the aubergine slices, on both sides, with table salt and pack them in a colander. Set the colander over a bowl for 1 hour while the moisture is extracted from the aubergine.

Meanwhile, make the tomato sauce. Heat the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat and add the onion and garlic. Cook for 10 minutes until golden, then add the red wine and cook until it has reduced to a syrup. Add the remaining sauce ingredients, season with sea salt and pepper, bring to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a blender or use a stick blender to blitz the sauce to a smooth consistency.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6, rinse the aubergine slices under cold running water and pat them dry with kitchen paper.

Pour enough vegetable oil into a large, deep frying pan to come up to approximately 1cm and place over high heat. When hot, dust the aubergine slices with flour then fry them, in batches, until golden, crispy on the outside and slightly soft. Add more oil to the pan as needed. Remove and transfer to sheets of kitchen paper to soak up the excess oil.

Place a layer of half the fried aubergine slices on the base of a deep, large ovenproof dish (approximately 20 × 30cm). Top with a layer of half the tomato sauce, then add a layer of half the mozzarella slices and sprinkle over some of the Parmesan. Repeat the layering again to use up all the aubergine, tomato sauce and cheese.

To make the crumb, mix the breadcrumbs with the soft butter then add the other ingredients. Mix well then season with sea salt and pepper. Cover the aubergines in the breadcrumb mix and bake the Parmigiana in the oven for 40–50 minutes until the top is golden brown.