Cheesy Aubergine Parmigiana

First up prepare the aubergine, trim the stems off then cut them into 1 cm â??sheetsâ?? length ways. You should be able to get 6-8 sheets from each aubergine. Now you need to coat them, put the gram flour in a mixing bowl and whisk in enough water to make it a beaten egg like consistency. 

Put the flour in another bowl & the breadcrumbs in another. To coat the aubergine sheets, individually dip a sheet of aubergine first in the flour, then the gram flour mixture & finally the breadcrumbs. Repeat the process until youâ??ve coated all the aubergine sheets. 

Now for the frying, in a deep frying pan add the vegetable oil, then place it over medium heat. To avoid using oil, you can always place the coated aubergine on a lined baking tray and bake them for 20 minutes. Test your oil is hot by placing a wooden spoon in the oil, if bubbles form around the spoon your oil is hot enough. Fry the sheets in batches of 3, for 2 minutes on each side, use a spider to turn them over and to carefully take them out, once fried place them on to a plate lined with kitchen paper to soak up any excess oil. Continue to fry until youâ??ve fried all of the aubergine sheets. Season with sea salt to keep them crisp while you prepare your tomato sauce. 

Place a large saucepan over a low heat and add the olive oil followed by the onion & garlic, sauté for around 4 minutes with the seasoning. Next to the pan add the tomatoes, sugar and vinegar & stir well. Pop a lid on the pan and let the sauce bubble away for 12 minutes. Pre heat your oven to 180 degrees C.

To build your aubergine parm, in a large baking dish, ladle some tomato sauce into the bottom of the dish, then do a layer of aubergine, then fresh basil, followed by béchamel & a sprinkling of vegan cheese, repeat the layers until youâ??ve filled your dish to the top. Making sure the last layer is béchamel & cheese. Place the dish into your oven on the middle shelf for 35 minutes. Once cooked it should be beautiful and golden on top. Let the aubergine parm sit for at 10 minutes before serving, make sure you serve it with lots of vegetables or a big salad.