Baked Aubergine Parmigiana

Cut the ends off the 2 aubergines and slice them lengthways into planks about half a centimetre thick.

💡 Keep the thickness even. Thin slices dry out on the griddle while thick ones stay squeaky and raw in the middle of the bake.

Get a griddle pan properly hot over medium-high heat — a drop of water should skitter and vanish in a second or two.

Spray or brush a little olive oil onto the hot griddle and lay on as many aubergine slices as fit in one layer.

💡 Oil the pan, not the aubergine. Aubergine flesh is a sponge — brush oil straight onto it and it drinks a whole bottle.

Griddle for a few minutes per side, until the slices go floppy and carry dark stripes. Season them lightly with salt as they come off.

💡 Resist moving them for the first 2 minutes. Left alone they mark and release; nudged early they stick and tear.

Repeat until all the slices are grilled, stacking them on a plate. This takes 3–4 batches for 2 large aubergines.

Meanwhile, warm a swirl of olive oil in a pot over medium-low heat with the unpeeled garlic clove, about 2 minutes, until the garlic smells sweet — not brown.

💡 Browned garlic turns bitter and that bitterness never leaves the sauce. Pull the pot off the heat if it starts colouring.

Pour in the 700 g of passata and half a glass of water, add a pinch of salt and tear in basil leaves by hand.

💡 Tear basil, never chop it. A knife bruises the leaf and turns the cut edges black within minutes.

Put the lid on and let the sauce cook gently for about 20 minutes, stirring now and then, until it darkens and no longer tastes sharp.

Fish out the garlic clove. Heat the oven to 180°C fan while the sauce finishes.

Spread a thin first layer of sauce across the bottom of a baking dish — just enough to wet it.

💡 This bottom layer is what stops the first sheet of aubergine welding itself to the dish.

Lay down a layer of grilled aubergine, overlapping the slices slightly, then spoon more sauce over the top.

Scatter over torn pieces of the drained mozzarella and a generous handful of grated cheese.

💡 Wet mozzarella is the single reason parmigiana turns out soupy. If it still looks damp, blot the torn pieces with kitchen paper.

Keep building layers — aubergine, sauce, mozzarella, grated cheese — until everything is used up, finishing with sauce, mozzarella and cheese on top.

Bake for about 20 minutes at 180°C fan, until the surface is browned in patches and the edges are bubbling.

Let it stand at least 15 minutes out of the oven before you cut it, then finish with fresh basil leaves and serve.

💡 This rest is not optional. Straight from the oven the layers slide apart on the spoon; 15 minutes later they hold their shape on the plate.