The human population seems to have a complicated history with the aubergine.

Vegetarians seem to love them

Carnivores are confused by them

Gen z’s like to send emojis of them as part of their mating rituals.

For the most part of my life, I didn’t really spend much time thinking about aubergines. I would go about my day, carefree, no aubergine in sight or on my mind. Then, one day, my mother cooked for me an aubergine curry (I don’t know it’s offical title – but it was sort of mushy, kind of like an Indian version of Baba Ganoush but warm & spicy with peas) and I could never look at an aubergine in the same way ever again.

Things changed from that day onwards and my love affair with the aubergine began.

I’ve mostly been used to handling an aubergine in the Indian fashion (doused in delicious spices), however Chef D’oeuf and I were looking for a lovely Italian recipe that was more complicated than pasta but lower effort than a full scale homemade lasagne. Upon my research, aubergine parmigana seemed like the perfect compromise. We settled on the following recipe; (https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/aubergine_parmigiana_57566a) 

First, Chef D’oeuf sliced and oven grilled 2 aubergines. It’s a rarity that Chef D’oeuf gets his hands dirty and participates in the chopping (he’s much more of a ‘stare at the rice for 20 mins and watch it cook kind of chef’) so I was feeling pretty shocked at this point. 

Meanwhile, I started on the embarrassingly simple tomato sauce. I fried a chopped red onion and garlic clove until soft and golden. Then I added two tins of chopped tomato and a generous glug of red wine (taste tested before naturally). I seasoned with salt, black pepper and oregano and left to thicken for about 15 mins.

Once the aubergines and sauce were ready. We layered up in a medium sized roasting dish. Sauce first, layer of aubergines, dots of ricotta, and (vegetarian) parmesan cheese. Repeat once more. Adorn the top layer with circles of mozzarella and parmesan. 

Also, when I say “we layered”. I really mean Chef D’eouf did this while I, as usual, did the washing up. This a recurring theme that may crop up from time to time in these posts. I’ll try to keep the bitterness to a minimum. 

We served with oven roasted tender stem broccoli (prepare with: olive oil, generous dose of salt and pepper and a loving massage) and pre-prepared garlic bread. 

I’m not here to resolve the world of it’s complicated relationship with aubergines. I’m just one woman. I don’t have that power. 

However, if anything could, I think it might just be this aubergine parmigiana.