I use the term eggplant and aubergine interchangeably as I'm used to using both now. I made this recipe when I was living in London last year. I used to get a fruit and veg box delivered when I was in lockdown. Included in one week's box was a globe aubergine and rainbow chard. I hadn't come across either so I was a bit stumped as to what to use them for. Probably need to expand my eggplant horizons but the only thing I could think of to make was moussaka. I was really happy with the results.
When I moved back to Oz, I couldn't find any globe aubergines. The closest thing I found were these cute little striped round eggplants. Unfortunately, I couldn't find rainbow chard this time around so I used regular chard. It's called silverbeet here.
You could make it vegan by subbing with diary substitutes. It's a bit of a lengthy recipe so one to try on the weekend. All good things come to those who wait.
Hope you enjoy.
Serves 6
Ingredients
Tomato base
1 tin tomatoes or the equivalent weight in passata
1 tin lentils
1 onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 yellow, 1/2 red pepper, cubed
1/2 courgette, cubed
2-3 leaves chard, chopped including the stalk
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 sachet tomato paste
Salt & pepper
White sauce
80g butter
80g flour (I used oat flour but you can use plain flour)
Grated nutmeg
200ml milk
Salt & pepper
Toppings
5 striped aubergines, thinly sliced
1 medium red sweet potato, thinly sliced
1 ball mozzarella, thinly sliced
100g parmesan cheese
Method
Heat a large frying pan. Add the oil. Add the onions, courgette, peppers and thicker pieces of beet stalk. Sauté for 7 minutes.
Add the rest of the chard and the garlic. Sauté for another 5 minutes or so.
Move some of the veg to the side of the pan, add the paste and fry for 2 minutes.
Stir in the lentils and then add the tomatoes.
Season with salt and pepper.
Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
While the tomato sauce is simmering, add the butter to a separate saucepan and allow to melt. Add the flour and stir until it comes to a paste. Slowly whisk in half of the milk. As it thickens add a little to loosen. You will need to continue this process for 20 minutes of so. Add more milk if you need along the way. Add in the grated nutmeg and salt and pepper. You can set this aside as you start to assemble the dish.
Layer half the tomato base in a casserole dish or baking dish. Then layer half off the potato on top and then the eggplants.
Pour half of the white sauce on top and spread it out. Sprinkle half of the mozzarella over it. Season with salt and pepper.
Do the same again with the layering. This time sprinkle the parmesan over the top to finish it off.
Bake in the oven for 40 minutes. If the top is browning too quickly, cover with some foil for the remainder of the cooking.
Dish it up. It stands up on it's own but would be great served with a green salad and a slice of garlic bread.