‘Distracted by the picture in the magazine it looked so tempting with the parmesan coated aubergine slices golden brown and covering layers of melted mozzarella and rich tomato sauce underneath. This one had lamb in it too. She imagined that every mouthful would taste of summertime and decided that she would try it out for their dinner later.’
‘Lamb & Aubergine Parmigiana’ (serves 6)
You will need:
Olive oil or rapeseed oil (for frying and drizzling)
500g minced lamb
1 medium onion
2 cloves garlic
2 tsp dried oregano
2 x 400g tinned chopped tomatoes
2 aubergines
200g mozzarella torn
50g parmesan (about half a regular sized wedge)
Method:
Pre-heat the fan oven to 180C / Gas Mark 6
(You will be layering the meat and aubergine in a baking dish once prepared)
Heat a tbsp of oil in a large pan over a medium heat and brown the mince.
Finely chop the onion, peel and crush the garlic.
Push the browned mince to the side of the pan and add the chopped onion to the centre and allow to soften for a few minutes, then add the garlic and cook for a further minute before stirring in the oregano and chopped tomatoes. Leave to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Heat a tbsp of oil in another large frying pan/ griddle pan over a medium heat.
Cut the aubergines into 1cm thick round slices and slightly brown the slices on both sides drizzling over extra oil so that they soften nicely.
Once browned remove to a plate. You may need to do this in a couple of batches.
Layer meat then aubergine slices topped with grated parmesan and some torn mozzarella into a baking dish and repeat finishing with a generous topping of grated parmesan.
Bake in the hot oven until the cheese has melted and the meat is bubbling up underneath the aubergines (30 minutes)
Enjoy with some crusty bread.
‘Eva served this with a simple green salad and the kids loved it.’
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