Aubergine Bake (vegetarian), think it's called eggplant parmesan in USA? correct me if I'm wrong haha
Ingredients:
2 large aubergines (eggplants)
1 Ball mozarella
3/4 - 1 cup grated parmesan
750ml tomato pasta sauce (I'll add a recipe for homemade below this one)
2 tbsp Olive oil
You will also need:
medium casserole dish
1. Cut the aubergines into 1/2 inch thick rounds.
2. Place them on a baking tray and drizzle with the olive oil
3. Put them in a preheated oven (200c, not sure what that is in farenheit or gas mark, but its quite hot), and cooke until golden brown on both sides, turning once halfway through. this should take about 15mins. Once the aubergine is done, put to one side and turn the oven down to 180c
4. pour about 1/4 of the tomato sauce into the bottom of the casserole dish, then put a layer of aubergine slices on top. Sprinkle about 1/4 of the cheese on top of this and continue until all the ingredients are used up, making sure to finish with a layer of cheese.
5. Put in the oven for approx. 40 mins or until bubbling and golden on top
Serve hot or cold with new potatoes and if you're a meat eater this goes really well with lamb
Basic tomato sauce (I'm putting a recipe for this in because it's really nice to use homemade sauce with the aubergines above and it can be used for just about anything and surprisingly few of my friends actually know how to make it)
You can add extras to this sauce such as anchovies, capers, olives, sweet peppers, chilli or anything else you can think up - be creative!
Ingredients:
1 400g tin chopped tomatoes,
I/2 small onion chopped finely
1 clove garlic crushed then chopped finely
I small carrot chopped into small (0.5cm)cubes
1 small stick celery chopped into small (0.5cm) chunks
1tbsp olive oil (sunflower or vegetable oil will also work)
1 tsp Tomato puree (optional)
pinch salt
pinch pepper
1/2 tsp mixed dried herbs or dried basil (optional)
1 tbsp fresh chopped basil or parsely (optional)
1. heat the olive oil in a smallish saucepan and add the onions, carrot and celery. Cook for 4-5mins
2. Add the garlic to the pan and cook for a further 2-3 mins or until the vegetables are soft, but not brown. Add the tomato puree at this point if using
3. pour the chopped tomatoes into the pan and bring to the boil. Reduce to a simmer, adding the salt, pepper and dried herbs at this point. Simmer for 20-25 mins, stirring occasionally. If the sauce thickens too much, you can add a small amount of water.
4. Check that the carrots are completely cooked through, if they're not, leave it to cook for a further 5 mins.
5. Take off the heat and stir in the fresh herbs if you're using them.
I love meat, but since I've been living on my own and having to pay for my own groceries, I've been cooking a lot more vegetartian dishes as good quality meats are pretty expensive. I can now understand why my mum used to do so many bean casseroles and vegetable lasgnes etc
I've actually really taken a liking to vegetarian foods and will definately be making some of the recipes on this thread. Also, for people who live in the UK, ASDA do some pretty good meat-free dry mixes for falafel and veggieburgers - they're cheap too.