Yummy Aubergine Bake

For quite a while I never knew what to do when an Aubergine arrived in the veg box.  Of late I have been making Moussaka, with either a turkey or vegetable filling (no cute little baa lambs eaten in this house), but the frequency with which the Aubergine shows up has sent me looking for other recipes.  One of these days I will post a recipe that does not include tinned tomatoes, but that day is not today.

Serves 4 -  Ingredients:
1 Large Aubergine
2 Eggs
50ml Milk
50g Plain Flour
150g Breadcrumbs
1 Medium Onion
2 Cloves of Garlic
2 Tins of Tomatoes
Olive Oil
125g Mozzarella
250g Ricotta
50g Parmigiana

Peel the Aubergine and cut into slices just over 1/2 cm thick. In a shallow bowl mix the milk with 1 of the eggs, put the flour and breadcrumbs into 2 other shallow dishes. Flour the aubergine slices, dip into the egg & milk mixture and finally into the breadcrumbs.  Put in the fridge for half an hour to dry a little before frying.

 Fry the breaded Aubergine in olive oil (it may take quite a bit of oil)until golden, then drain on some absorbent paper.

Now for the tomato sauce.  Finely slice the onion and garlic, gently fry in a little olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Cook for 5 minutes then add the tomatoes and continue to cook for a further 15 minutes on a medium heat.

For the cheesy layer. In a bowl combine the half the grated mozzarella, the tub of ricotta, the parmigiana and the other egg.

In a large oven proof dish, put a third of the tomato sauce on the bottom and over with half the Aubergine slices.  Top with a further third of the tomato sauce and then all the cheesy mixture.

Top with the other half of the Aubergine slices and then cover with the remainder of the tomato sauce and the remaining grated mozzarella.

Preheat the oven to Gas Mark 5 and bake for 30-40 minutes until it is bubbling and the cheese is melted.