Aubergines/eggplants are much maligned. I know that. But I love them so much! Here is a very simple way of cooking them, no fuss, and not a lot of mess. My friend Liese in Athens still makes this, many years after I gave her the recipe, and that makes me smile every time I think about it. I also recorded me making this and put it up on my YouTube channel, so you can watch that here if you like.

I learned the laying of the slices on a baking tray thing on a YouTube channel by Ken Panagopoulos, all round good Canadian bod, excellent cook and amazing olive oil producer.

Ken’s Greek Table is here: https://kensgreektable.com and also here: https://www.youtube.com/kenpanagopoulos

Baked Aubergines

Oven 160C fan

3 large aubergines, washed and sliced
Extra virgin olive oil – do not skimp, it’s part of the flavour profile
1 large onion, chopped
6 cloves of garlic, sliced
3 large sized tomatoes, chopped (a can of chopped tomatoes can be used instead, of course)
a good sprinkling of dried oregano
A splosh* of red wine/commandaria/sweet sherry
1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt – add more later if you wish, but feta and parmesan are both salty
1 tbs honey or petimezi or maple syrup
Kefalotyri or Parmesan cheese, grated – or feta, crumbled**

Cut the aubergine into rounds or slices, lay them on a baking tray – it doesn’t matter if they overlap – drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and bake until they turn floppy. You don’t need to get them browned, just cooked.

Add about 8 tbs of olive oil to your pan.

Fry the onion and garlic together in this oil until the edges of the onions start to brown and then add the chopped tomatoes, the oregano, cinnamon, wine, salt and honey.

Mix well, then simmer until it reduces a bit.

Get a deep ovenproof dish, lay in some of the aubergine slices to cover the bottom, spoon over a third of the sauce, and either add a good few tablespoons of parmesan, of crumble as much feta cheese as you like over them.

Add more aubergine, then more sauce, then finish with aubergine, and top with the remaining sauce, and then more cheese.

Bake with the lid on until it’s all bubbly and the aubergines are soft, then take the lid off, and pop the whole thing back in the oven and cook for another 30 minutes until the tomato is jammy all round the edges and the majority of any watery liquid has gone.

Serve with a nice salad and some crusty fresh bread.

*splosh for me in this recipe was about 60ml

**vegans – use your favourite vegan cheese here, and maple syrup or petimezi instead of the honey