Melty Mozzarella Stuffed Aubergines with Basil and Tomato Sauce
One of my favourite ways to eat aubergine
In my mind one of the best triumvirates has to be aubergine, cheese and tomato sauce. It’s just the most gorgeous combination. It’s not talked about enough. Bread and butter get a lot of air time, salt and pepper…sure, peanut butter and jam? Yes all of these are excellent but aubergine, cheese and tomato deserve our attention. So here I am using big words like triumvirate to try and get them some! I like aubergines sure, probably as much as the next person and probably more so after I discovered Claudia Roden and Ottolenghi. There are so many different ways to serve them, although normally I opt to roast them and they are lovely stirred through cous cous with plenty of herbs and lemon zest, or drizzled in garlicky yoghurt and a scattering of basil leaves and pomegranate. Really very good and I like a lot. BUT add melty mozzarella and a simple tomato sauce, a scattering of parmesan and fresh basil and now we are talking. We’ve now moved into love territory.
Of course this combination is most commonly known as an aubergine parmigiana (or Melanzane alla Parmigiana) and this is kind of like that but done a little differently. Normally you will know I am the kind of cook that likes to make a big dish and bring it to the table and have people help themselves. But there are times when I do like to do things differently and serve individual portions and I really love this dish.
It’s one of those easy vegetarian recipes that looks a lot more impressive than it actually was to make. Served simply with a green salad and it’s a really very lovely supper. Watching the video could actually be quite helpful to show you what it will look like and what I’m actually talking about!
Okay so here goes:
How to slice the aubergine (before it's roasted)
You’re almost making a Hasselback aubergine but horizontally rather than vertically. If this is your first time doing this, just go slowly and don’t worry if you slip up, once it’s stuffed with mozzarella, no one will notice and it will be just as delicious. The only important thing is that you must keep the stem attached as that’s what holds it all together.
On the board in front of you, place the aubergine down and lay your hand flat over the top of it, to anchor it. Hold your knife flat and around 1cm from the bottom of the aubergine, slice into the aubergine, shuffling it gently along in a straight line until you get close to the stem. Do NOT cut through the stem or it will all fall apart. Remove the knife then hold it flat again, move it 1cm up and cut another incision. Repeat until you have sliced the whole aubergine at 1cm intervals. Then you can roast it as the recipe says.
Serves 2