Eggplant stack

Eggplant stacks go well with green salad and bread. Photo / Janna Dixon

The tomato sauce used in this recipe is a goodie and can be used as a simple pasta sauce, a base to which to add minced meat for a lasagne, or layer a mix of cooked vegetables through it, cover with grated cheese and breadcrumbs and bake off as a gratin.

For this stack I used diced fresh tomatoes but canned works better when tomatoes are out of their natural season.

1 Dice an onion, chop a few garlic cloves and cook in a little olive oil to soften.

2 Add a good amount of tomato paste and fry in the oil.

3 If you have it, add some sprigs of fresh thyme or a little dried thyme.

4 Add your tomatoes, fresh diced or canned, and cook down to a chunky but coherent consistency. It is perfectly acceptable to use a potato masher to mush it up if it looks a bit lumpy.

5 Remove the thyme from its stalks, add to the tomatoes and season with salt and pepper.

6 Slice eggplant longways, layer in a baking dish and liberally dress with olive oil. Add a little water, season with salt and pepper and bake in a moderate oven until coloured and soft. You may need to turn the eggplant slices while they are cooking to achieve an even result. Allow 3 slices per serve. Once cooked drain on a paper towel.

7 Boil some eggs (allow 1 per serve) and cut into slices.

8 Slice some tasty cheese. Allow one good slice per serve.

9 Using the baking dish you cooked the eggplant in (to save washing up) start making the stacks. Start with an eggplant slice, spread some tomato sauce across it and some sliced hard boiled egg. Place a slice of cheese on the egg, then cover with another eggplant slice. Spread this with more tomato sauce, the rest of the egg and another eggplant slice. Top this with more tomato sauce and a bit of cheese. Put back into a moderate oven and once the cheese has melted and the stack is bubbling it is ready to serve.

All you need is a green salad and some bread to mop up the juices.