Eggplant and tomato bake with crème fraîche

SERVES 6–8

I absolutely love this dish: it’s rich and creamy yet full of zingy, punchy flavours, and takes full advantage of early autumn’s abundance of tomatoes and eggplant. Delicious warm or at room temperature, you can make it in advance, then serve it with a green salad as a main or with grilled meat as a side dish. If you’re cooking for vegetarians or friends who you suspect have had their fill of lasagne, give this a try.

4 eggplant, sliced into 1cm rounds 2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoon olive oil

1 brown onion, diced

4 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1.5 kg tomatoes, roughly chopped or

3 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes

1 handful basil, roughly chopped

¼ cup (60 ml) vegetable oil

1 cup (100 g) finely grated parmesan cheese 300g crème fraîche (see Sophie’s tip) grated zest of 1 lemon

½ cup (30g) fresh breadcrumbs (made from sourdough, if possible)

1 Put the eggplant slices in a large colander and sprinkle with the salt.

Set aside for 1 hour, then rinse and pat dry with paper towel.

2 Preheat the oven to 180°C (160°C fanforced). Lightly grease a large ovenproof dish, approximately 30 x 20 x 8cm.

3 Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook onion until translucent (about 5 minutes), then add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Tip in chopped tomatoes and basil, reduce heat and cook, stirring often, for 20 minutes.

4 Meanwhile, heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan and, working in batches, fry the eggplant until soft and golden on each side, topping up with more oil if needed – there should be about 2mm of oil in the pan at all times. This can feel like a bit of a punish, but it’s the only messy part and definitely worth it!

5 Place a layer of eggplant in the ovenproof dish; top with a third of the tomato sauce. Sprinkle with a quarter of the parmesan and repeat so you have three layers of eggplant, tomato and parmesan. To finish, whisk together crème fraîche, lemon zest and remaining ¼ cup (25g) parmesan. Spread mixture over the top of eggplant and tomato, then sprinkle with the breadcrumbs. Bake for 30 minutes or until the top is golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.