Aubergine Parmigiana Bake

Serves 6

This is a Guest Recipe from Katie and Giancarol Caldesi's excellent "The Diabetes Weight-Loss Cookbook", which is packed full of wonderful recipes, many of which we have tried and loved.

I decided to go with a much simpler way of presenting this dish as it is possible to create individual show-stopping portions which look too beautiful for words, but being a family kitchen cook - this worked better for me!   We decided to pair this with Roasted Cauliflower Couscous - a marriage made in heaven!

Ingredients

For the Aubergine Parmigiana:

2 x 125g / 4½oz balls buffalo mozzarella, torn into pieces

Extra virgin olive oil, to grease the tray and brush the aubergines

3 large aubergines, or 4-5 smaller ones, cut into 1 cm thick slices

1 jar Passata of Tomatoes

12 broad Basil leaves

25g / 1oz Parmesan, finely grated

25g / 1oz smoked Provola cheese or smoked Cheddar, cut into small chunks

Salt and Freshly Ground Black Pepper

For the Cauliflower Couscous:

1 extra large or two medium Cauliflower, retaining florets only.

Olive Oil

Seasoning

AND THIS IS WHAT YOU DO.....

For the Aubergine Parmigiana:

1. Cut or tear the mozzarella into pieces and drain in a sieve for an hour or overnight in the fridge.
   
   
2. Pre-heat the oven to 220C / Fan 200C / Gas 7.
   
   
3. Grease a baking tray with a little oil.
   
   
4. Meanwhile, lay the aubergine slices onto the prepared tray.    Brush with oil and season lightly with salt and pepper.
   
   
5. Roast the aubergines for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned.
   
   
6. Remove from the oven and leave to cool briefly.
   
   
7. To assemble the bake, pour one third of the passata into a medium ovenproof dish and lay over one-third of the aubergine slices.
   
   
8. Top with one-thir of each cheese and one-third of the basil leaves.
   
   
9. Repeat twice more, finishing with the cheese.
   
   
10. Bake for 45 minutes - 1 hour, or until  the cheese is lightly browned.
    
    

For the Cauliflower Couscous: 

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180C.
   
   
2. Meantime, put cauliflower florets (just a few at a time) into a food processor and whizz until it resembles couscous or semolina.
   
   
3. Pour couscous into a separate roasting tray and add a little olive oil and season, stir well and place on top shelf.  Keep checking it frequently and stir to stop the top browning.
   
   
4. The cauliflower should still be creamy looking but a little golden as well - do not burn!!