Melanzane alla Parmigiana

Today we have a bake. A vegetable bake. Not my normal scene, if I’m honest. I have nothing against vegetarians but my idea of a successful vegetarian dish is one which you can finish without having shouted ‘WHERE’S THE MEAT?’ at any point.

I am pleased to report that this is one of those dishes. It’s soothing, warming, comforting and good for you (depending on your stance on cheese, which personally I think is fine). It’s quick, easy, much more than the sum of its parts and everyone ate all of it. Well, apart from sister number 4 who said it tasted ‘so rank she was literally going to vomit’. I would ignore that though, she is a teenager.

Serves 4. You will need:
· 2x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
· 2 aubergines
· 150g mozzarella
· 75g parmesan
· 1 onion
· 2 cloves of garlic
· White wine
· Tomato puree
· Handful of fresh basil

Method:
· Slice the aubergines uniformly and briefly dry fry them, or grill them on a griddle pan if you have one (turns out I do not). Set aside.
· In a pot, sweat down the onions. When they’re done, add the garlic, the tomatoes, the tomato puree and a splosh of wine. Leave it to thicken, reduce, do whatever it has to do, whack in some herbs if you fancy. Oregano maybe.
Taste it. Tomato sauces can sometimes be bitter or metallic. If this has happened, sprinkle some sugar in. I promise it works.
· Grate the parmesan. (75g is a rough estimate it was basically about half of a normal size wedge but do however much you want).
· Tear up the mozzarella ball and the basil
· Assemble in a heatproof dish. Layer the aubergine slices up, alternating with the tomato sauce, some parmesan, a bit of basil, some mozzarella. Play it by ear. See how you feel. No rules.
· If you want a rule: aubergine, mozzarella, tomato sauce, parmesan, basil, aubergine, mozzarella, tomato sauce, parmesan, basil …. Approximately 4 times. Season each layer.
· Bake in an oven at 180c for 20ish minutes and serve with crusty bread and a green salad.

I’m sorry the picture is blurry. It was taken through a haze of tears due to my sister’s cutting remarks about my culinary ability. Not.

Scotch quails' eggs

Having spent last Saturday at the Soho Food Feast seeing Angela Hartnett, Fergus Henderson and Ben from the Saltyard Group cook in front of me and eating nibbles from Wright Bros Soho, St John, 10 Greek Street, MeatLiquor, Brindisa, Quo Vadis and Kopapa (to name drop just a few), this Saturday I decided to get my apron on for the first time in ages and try to make scotch eggs.

Obvs we're not talking about those refrigerated supermarket picnic ones (my sister thought the filling between the egg and the breadcrumbs was....more bread) but the monster ones containing a whole egg which have exploded all over pub menus in the last few years. Special favourites near me can be found at the Harwood Arms (venison version), The Ship and The Sands End. During one lunch at the Harwood we had one to start, and then another one instead of pudding.  The key is a crispy shell and a runny yolk.

Having been reliably informed that panko (Japanese breadcrumbs, the stuff on the outside of chicken katsu) would give me the crispiest crust, and that I should try using quails' eggs for a more manageable bite size snack, I took the opportunity to go and hang out in Waitrose. Whilst it was a still a second to none shopping experience, they had no panko and no fresh quails eggs. Panic buying for the jubilee long weekend no doubt. So I settled on some hard boiled quails eggs, some normal eggs, and cornflakes. 

Following the recipe below, I managed to produce 12 quails eggs scotch eggs that got eaten pretty quickly and looked fairly professional. I give them 8/10. However, when I made one with a normal egg it became pretty apparent why nobody bothers with a quails egg version. The yolk was runny, the proportions were better and it was a definite 10/10. If I do say so myself. I don't have a picture of that one though so you'll just have to take my word for it.

Quails Egg Scotch Eggs

makes 12

12 quails eggs

350g sausagemeat 

2 tbps tarragon

Pinch mace, sage, nutmeg, whatever you want

1 egg yolk

Half a packet of cornflakes, blitzed to a powder

Seasoned flour

Egg wash (1 egg and a splash of milk)

500ml sunflower oil.

• Boil the eggs for 3 minutes and plunge into iced water. Peel the eggs.
• Mix the sausagemeat with the spices and the egg yolk
• Roll some of the mixture into a ball and sort of push an egg into the middle of it, shaping around the outside to make sure the meat is covering the egg on all sides.
• Dip the egg meat ball in seasoned flour, then egg wash then cornflakes so it is completely coated.
• Heat the oil in a heavy based pan. Use some of the meat to check the temperature, which should be around 160degrees for those with thermometers, or until it takes about 10 seconds for the meat to cook and bounce to the top.
• Drop the scotch eggs in carefully and fry for 10ish minutes.
• There is no real way of telling when they're done. You're looking for a crispy brown shell. 
• If you soft boil the eggs, you will end up with a runny yolk and it will stay runny throughout.

Serve with dijon mustard