Meat-free Archives

Breakfast recipes

Marinated tomato-and-mozzarella pizza

20 minutes

Salad recipes

Quick pickled baby marrow-and-cashew salad

Cheese recipes

Crispy twice-cooked eggs with sambal oelek and herb salad

10 minutes

Great value

Fennel, ClemenGold and fior di latte salad

Great value

Build-your-own summer veggie burgers

25 minutes

Cheese recipes

Melanzane alla Parmigiana

45 minutes

Melanzane alla Parmigiana

Serves 6

Difficulty Easy

Prep Time 30 minutes, plus 30 minutes' standing time

Cooking Time 45 minutes

Ingredients

3 large brinjals
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
4 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 T olive oil, plus extra for frying
360 g tomato passata
1½ T sugar
flour, for dusting
30 g fresh basil, torn
300 g mozzarella, cut into 2 cm slices
150 g Grana Padano shavings
2 T butter

Method

Trim the brinjals and peel lengthways leaving on alternate strips of skin. Cut into 1 cm rounds and salt lightly. Allow to stand for 30 minutes.

Lightly fry the garlic in the olive oil in a small saucepan, then add the tomato passata and sugar and simmer, stirring occasionally, over a low heat for a few minutes. Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Rinse the brinjals and pat dry using kitchen paper, then lightly dust both sides with flour. Fry in the oil over a medium heat until golden on both sides, then drain on kitchen paper.

Spread a thin layer of the tomato mixture into a 25 cm ovenproof dish, then add a layer of brinjals, half the basil, and a third of the mozzarella and Grana Padano. Season to taste. Repeat and finish with a layer of tomato and cheese. Season and dot with butter, then bake for 30 minutes.

Serve immediately.

Cook's note: Laden with olive oil and cheese, this is not a diet option. You could use fi or di latte and Parmigiana Reggiano if you're feeling flush, but for this recipe, I went basic. And it tasted just fine.

Browse more Italian recipes here.

Spinach lasagne

Apple, honey and almond cake

Chicken in tomato sauce

Turkish scrambled shakshuka

Marinated tomato-and-mozzarella pizza

Quick pickled baby marrow-and-cashew salad

Use-up cheese bake

Stir-fried lettuce

Easy caponata

Crispy twice-cooked eggs with sambal oelek and herb salad

Olive-and-caper pasta sauce

Fennel, ClemenGold and fior di latte salad

Roast tomato pasta salad

Build-your-own summer veggie burgers

Melanzane alla Parmigiana

Melanzane alla Parmigiana

Ingredients

Method