Aubergines Baked with Tomatoes & Cheese (Parmigiana di Melanzane)

by Claudia Roden from The Food of Italy (Square Peg)

Photography: Jason Lowe

You find versions of this famous dish all over Italy, usually with several layers of aubergine, but I like this simple one.

Serves 4

Ingredients

Salt

700g aubergines, thickly sliced

1 clove garlic, crushed

Olive oil

500g ripe tomatoes, peeled & chopped (Nigel used a 400g tin of chopped tomatoes)

1 teaspoon sugar

Freshly ground black pepper

2 tablespoons chopped basil or mint leaves

250g mozzarella, diced

5 tablespoons grated parmesan

Method

Brush the aubergine slices with oil and cook them under the grill for about 10 mins, turning them over once.

Fry the garlic in 2 tablespoons olive oil for moments only until the aroma rises. Add the tomatoes, sugar, a little salt and pepper and the basil or mint, and cook vigorously to reduce to a thick sauce.

Arrange the aubergine slices in a baking dish, cover with the tomato sauce, sprinkle with the cheeses and bake in the oven at 180C/160C fan/gas 4 for about 30 mins.

Alongside this dish, Nigel tasted Leafkicker Alchohol-Free Amber Ale, & 9 di Dante Inferno: