Servings:

4 generous lunch portions or 6 supper portions.

Level of difficulty:

Easy

Ingredients

1 large aubergine
2 - 4 tomatoes (depending on size)
1 large (or 2 small) onions
1 large yellow pepper (or you've guessed it - 2 small)
Mozzarella cheese (the fresh kind in brine or grated - you'll need 3 "balls" of the fresh stuff or 2 x 200gr packets of grated)
12-15 slices of lean speck (if you can't get speck, use a good smoked back bacon as the "smokey" taste is important)
Tomato ketchup
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
A few dribbles of olive oil
Garlic (optional)

Method

You'll also need an ovenproof casserole (around 8 inches in diameter - I don't know what capacity that is) preferably with a lid but you can use a double thickness of foil. It's fairly important that the lid fits properly as you don't want too much evaporation.

Slice the aubergine, toms, onions, pepper and cheese as thin as you can without being ridiculous and then it's simply a case of layering the ingredients. Keep a portion of the cheese aside for the end topping.

Start with dribbling a swirl of olive oil on the bottom of the dish and then start layering: Aubergine, then pepper, then toms (salt & pepper the toms), then onions, then cheese, then 3 or 4 slices of bacon, then a good squirt of tom ketchup and then start again.

Through a few trial and error meals, I have found three sets of layers to be the best but end on a layer of the best slices of aubergine. If you like garlic, just throw it in wherever you like. Dribble another few drops of olive oil on the top layer of aubergine (if you're not worried about the end calorie count, use as much olive oil as you like) and put the lid on the whole layer fest. It needs to go in the oven at 180 deg C for around 1 ½ hours (I know this sounds long but it needs it).

Bring it out after 90 mins, remove lid and add the rest of the cheese on top and return to oven until cheese is melted and bubbling brown. This will be enough for 4 hearty meals or 6 smaller. The vegetables weep out a fabulous juice and combine with the tom ketchup to form a rich sauce so I serve with hot crusty bread or garlic bread (to mop up juice) and a green salad.