The lazy Aubergine Parm I think you should make for dinner tonight.
My One Pan Aubergine Parmigiana recipe perfect for busy schedules.
This month on ingredient we’re focusing on aubergines: the bulbous, almost black purple fruit from the nightshade family that soaks up flavour-infused cooking oils (though not in this recipe!) like they’re going out of fashion.
You can already find the recipe for my Roast Aubergines with Herby Yogurt here, and my Aubergine Tempura with Balsamic Drizzle here. Do upgrade your subscription to unlock every recipe in the ingredient archive, and of course to help funding the free part of what I post here!
We woke up to autumn this morning. There is a slight chill in the air, and on my walk through the woods this afternoon I recognised the crunch of fallen leaves beneath my feet. It seems like the perfect weather to share my final aubergine recipe of the month, a simple dinnertime preparation I think is perfect for the seasonal transition.
Today’s aubergine recipe is about probably the most classic way to cook an aubergine: frying it in oil before bringing it together with sauce. Rounds are fried until tender, silky and golden in good olive oil, before being nestled into a garlicky tomato sauce that turns a deep, brick red in the oven, simmering under a blanket of melting, bubbling cheese.
This is an aubergine parmigana-style dinner without the faff. Well, without most the faff: we can’t get away from the fact I’m asking you to shallow fry some aubergine rounds here, but otherwise the rest of the dish is streamlined such that all you need to do is source some crusty bread and a green salad to go on the side. Tidy the kitchen whilst you’re doing it, stack the dishwasher. I did just that whilst these rounds were frying, and I also chopped some leeks, carrots and onions for one of the next recipes I have to work on from my current list of commissions.
Dinner in just under an hour, 25 minutes of which you’re free to go off and do something else. And, because I literally wrote the book on meat free, one pan meals I’ve managed to cut down on the amount of washing you you’ll have to do afterwards, too. I love fancy, storied dishes as much as the next food writer, but sometimes I just want dinner.
One Pan Lazy Aubergine Parmigiana
Serves: 2, Preparation time: 10 minutes, Frying time: 15 minutes, Cooking time: 20 minutes
Ready in under an hour this is a rich, saucy take on the Italian version of an aubergine parmigiana (where the aubergine is not breadcrumbed as it is in many American versions) that is the perfect dinner to share with crusty bread and a green salad.
It is easily scaled up with more aubergines and a bigger pan (I made mine in a 26cm shallow Le Creuset, but any oven-proof pan should do) and warms through again well so it is a good make-ahead meal to keep in the fridge for later if you have time now, but you know things are going to get busy over the next few days!