Aubergine Lasagna
Vegetarian heart-warming lasagna with an aubergine based sauce
Lasagna – comfort food at its best!
Of course my favourite lasagna recipe is my mother’s Lasagna Bolognese. But this Jamie Oliver recipe for Aubergine Lasagna is a great vegetarian alternative.
The trick to making this dish taste fabulous, is to bake it in a large relatively shallow dish (think at least twice the size as you would use for a regular lasagna).
This lasagna is a fabulous family meal. But it is also a great make-ahead dinner for an informal, no-fuss evening with friends.
Ingredients
(slightly adapted from the Jamie Oliver recipe for ‘aubergine lasagna’ found in ‘Delicious’ Magazine somewhere in 2009 I think)
Serves 4-6
4 aubergine
4 cloves of garlic
a few twigs of thyme
1 dry red chilli, crumbled
8 tbsp olive oil
3 400g cans of tomatoes
a nub of butter
a few dashes of balsamic vinegar
a bunch of fresh basil
200g grated tasty cheese
75g of grated Parmesan cheese
8-12 fresh lasagna sheets
Recipe
- Steam aubergines for 30 minutes. (I place a metal pan coaster at the bottom of my largest pot.)
- Allow aubergines to cool sufficiently to handle. Scoop out the flesh and chop roughly.
- Heat most of the olive oil (in the pan you used to steam the aubergines). Chop and add garlic, thyme leaves, chili and aubergine. Cook on a medium flame for 10 minutes, stirring regularly.
- Add the tomato into the pan and use a spoon to break them into large chunks. Add butter, balsamic. Chop basil (including stalks) and add most. Cook gently for about 10 min until the sauce has thickened a little.
- Preheat oven to 200C.
- Prepare the oven dish(es): start with a layer of sauce. Sprinkle with some of the two cheeses and cover with lasagna. Repeat two more times ending with cheese. Sprinkle the remaining basil on top and drizzle with some olive oil.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes until the lasagna is hot and golden-brown.
Tips & Variations
This lasagna can be prepared ahead and stored in the fridge or freezer. I prefer storing it unbaked as the pasta tends to go too soft when reheating it. However this could just be due to the type of pasta I use.
afra cooking 