Recipe: Aubergine Parmigiana (River Cottage Veg)

I am in danger of this becoming into a food and photography blog if I don’t stop being so lazy about taking my outfit photos!! I’ve loved every outfit I’ve worn recently, but I’ve been a bit yuck with my feeling ill again for a few weeks, so it’s been really difficult to get photos done. But anyway, when I did my food post the other day a few of you asked me for recipes for a couple of things, so here is one of the requested ones: Aubergine Parmigiana.
This recipe is actually originally from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s newest book, River Cottage Everyday Veg, but I’ve made a few tweaks to the recipe to make it slightly more Greek-tasting if that makes sense! Also, I’ve said before when I do recipes, but I don’t really follow recipes exactly….ever. I kind of put in how much I feel like of whatever I feel like, tasting as I go, so remember to taste yours and adjust any seasonings etc. to your taste. Also, I tend to make this recipe so there’s enough for me and Ben to have on an evening, then some for lunch for each of us the next day, but it depends how much you eat and if you decide to have bread or salad as a side.

Print Recipe

Aubergine Parmigiana

This Italian inspired recipe is a twist on Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall's from his River Cottage Everyday Veg book. It's super tasty, fresh and packed full of yummy veg.

Total Time1 hr 10 mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: aubergine parmigiana

Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

• 2 medium/large aubergines
• 1 onion
• 4 garlic cloves
• Pinch of sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 400g tinned tomatoes
• 125 g mozzarella
• Handful of parmesan

Instructions

• Slice the aubergines into 3-5mm thick slices. (This next part isn't really necessary, but I do it if I have time and remember) Place the slices into a colander with a sprinkling of salt to draw out any excess moisture. Set aside for around an hour.
• Chop up your onion, then fry it off until soft and slightly golden in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Then added your chopped garlic and fry for a couple of minutes, make sure not to burn it! At the same time add your cinnamon and oregano.
• Once the onion mixture is cooked through, put in your 800g (2 x 400g) of tinned tomatoes with a good seasoning of salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar. Then allow to simmer for around 30 mins.
• Preheat your oven to 180c.
• While the sauce is cooking, using a large non-stick pan, you can fry off your aubergine slices. Put in a good splash of olive oil over a medium heat and fry each slice on either side under they're golden and soft. Fry them in batches so that they all get pan space! When each batch is done, I put them onto a plate with some kitchen roll to soak up the excess oil (aubergines are like sponges!).
• Now start to layer it into an oven proof dish. First put in a third of the aubergine, cover with a layer of tomato sauce, then a third of the mozzarella torn into pieces and scattered over it, and repeat! Finish with a layer of aubergine, the final third of the mozzarella and scatter some parmesan over the top.
• Whack it in the oven for 30-40 minutes until golden and bubbling, and serve with crusty bread or salad.

Let me know if any of you try it and like it!! Or if you make any adjustments yourselves =) Hopefully I’ll be back with outfit posts soon – I’m back for Christmas now, so hopefully a bit of rest will do me some good. I’ve bought several pairs of thick woollen tights recently for wearing outside in the coldness, and I went with my dad to pick my sister up from college today and we popped into the Designer Outlet near her college where I got 5 pairs of tights and a new nightie (I’m just that cool!) from the M&S outlet shop for like £20 =D Maybe I should do an outfit post of my nightie since that’s what I’m wearing right now with a pair of thick tights haha!! I don’t do ‘casual outfits’ well, I don’t like tracksuit bottoms or anything, so I often end up in just a comfy skirt or pyjamas (which usually consist of old t-shirts and boxers!) with a dressing gown haha!!
Oh and I was also thinking of setting up an Etsy account to sell some photography as prints and canvasses, would any of you be interested in anything like that, or have any requests?? I could probably offer a couple of discounts for some of you =)
Love,