BAKED AUBERGINE, (EGGPLANT) WITH TOMATO AND MOZZARELLA CHEESE

Good Afternoon to you,

It has been a while since I posted here on Ivy, Phyllis and Me! and I am sad to tell you, that today will be my last post.

I first began writing Ivy, Phyllis and Me! in June 2012, to record family recipes for my daughters.... and then the blog evolved into sharing other aspects of my life, gardening, sewing, travelling and my home, but always first and foremost, I shared recipes which I loved cooking for my family.

I cannot tell you how grateful I am, that over the years you have returned each week to read my stories and been kind enough to leave comments.... but it isn't the end of Ivy, Phyllis and Me, because I have become part of the Instagram Community, which I absolutely love.  I post each day.... either cooking, home, gardening or sewing, so as you can see, it isn't dissimilar to my blog, but rather than post once a week, I post every day.  I even tell little stories about my day to day life.... well I wouldn't be me, if I didn't tell you a little story.  So if you would like to see what I am up to, please feel free to join me, by tapping the Instagram button on the top right hand corner of Ivy, Phyllis and Me! and you will see that my life has not stood still, it has just moved on.

So although this is my last post, I decided to add a farewell recipe.... after all this is where I began.

So today, we will be making,

Baked Aubergine, (Eggplant) with Tomato and Mozzarella Cheese.... which is a huge hit with my family.

So, for one last time, it's on with the pinnie and time to organise our ingredients. Just to say the dish is made in 3 sections ~ the sauce ~ the aubergines and then the layering of the dish.

INGREDIENTS

YOU WILL NEED

TO MAKE

BAKED AUBERGINE (EGGPLANT),

WITH TOMATO AND MOZZARELLA CHEESE

6 tbsps of olive oil (approximately)

1 onion ~ finely chopped

3 cloves of garlic ~ crushed

2 tbsps oregano ~ dried 

1 red and 1 yellow bell pepper ~ seeded and sliced

4 large beefy tomatoes ~ skinned and chopped

1 cup of vegetable or chicken stock

4 large aubergines (eggplant)~ sliced

5 tablespoons of grated Parmesan cheese

3 large Mozzarella balls ~ sliced

Sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Oven temperature ~ 180C/160F  Bake for 45 minutes

METHOD

~ place 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan.

~ add onions and cook until translucent.

~ add crushed garlic and oregano and cook for a minute ~ stir

~ add sliced peppers and chopped tomatoes ~ stir

~ add stock ~ stir ingredients

~ place lid on the pan and cook gently for 15 minutes

~ remove the lid and continue cooking until the peppers are soft and the liquid has reduced to a thick sauce.

~ Add a little sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Whilst the sauce is cooking,

AUBERGINES (EGGPLANT)

~ place 2 tablespoons of olive oil into a wide pan

~ when heated begin to add the aubergines (eggplant) in batches and cook until both sides are golden brown.

~ half way through cooking the aubergines (eggplant) you will need to add the rest of the olive oil.... and perhaps more.

~ When cooked, set the aubergines (eggplant) aside.

LAYER THE DISH

~ Place a layer of tomato/pepper sauce into the base of a wide ovenproof dish.

~ Add a layer of aubergines (eggplant)

~ Add slices of Mozzarella and grated Parmesan

~ Repeat layering until the ingredients are used.

I find I normally have approximately 3 layers.

Pop into a pre-heated oven and bake for 45 minutes. I think I have mentioned before, that all our cookers work differently.... so I would advise you check how the dish is progressing after half an hour.

Then all there is left to do,

is

Enjoy.

This dish can be eaten hot or warm, which I prefer.... if you love vegetables as much as I do, I just know you will love this dish.

So thank you again for all your kindness and hopefully we will meet up again when you visit my Instagram account... it will be so lovely to see you there.