Chickpea and Aubergine Parmigiana - Aubergine Parmigiana, but make it Diabetes-Friendly

Has anyone given the world as much as the Italians nonnas have? Gelato, margarita pizza, balsamic vinegar, lasagna, focaccia…and Aubergine Parmigiana. What we have done to deserve them I’ll never go, but I’m not questioning it! My mum makes aub parm for me every time I come home and whether I’m flying from London or South Africa, it always makes the flight worthwhile.

Aub parm is a relatively simple dish but it can be a bit of a labour of love – frying the aubs, making the sauce, layering, baking, waiting impatiently for it to cool so you don’t burn the roof of your mouth with molten lava tomato sauce. This is a mid-week one-pan dinner inspired by aub parm, with chickpeas for added protein and fibre. Don’t tell your nonna.

Serve with some greens - salad or frozen peas, and some fresh bread or steamed baby potatoes.  

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 tins of chickpeas

500ml passata

Handful fresh tomatoes

1 tsp sugar

Salt and pepper

2 aubergines

2 balls of mozzarella

Handful of Basil leaves

2 Tbs Olive oil

Optional – grated parmesan/ cheddar cheese for the top

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees.

Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Chop the fresh tomatoes.

In a large dish or deep pan that can go in the oven, tip in the chickpeas, the passata, chopped tomatoes and sugar. Season with salt and pepper and mix well.

Slice the balls of mozzarella thinly – I got about 8 -10 slices from each ball.

Take each aubergine. Slice in half-length ways. Place cut side down on the chopping board and using a sharp knife carefully make about 5 cuts along the aubergine, Hasselback style - don’t go all the way through, you are creating little pockets to put the slices of mozzarella into.

Gently push the mozzarella slices into the cuts. The aubergines will start to bend, and you may not be able to get all the cheese in, but that’s fine.

Pop the aubergine halves into the dish and push them down into the sauce. Scatter any leftover mozzarella over the tomato sauce.

Drizzle over ~2 tablespoons of olive oil.  Put the lid on, or cover with tin foil, and bake for 45 minutes.

Once 45 minutes is up, take the dish out and remove the lid/tin foil.  Sprinkle over any parmesan/cheddar now.

Pop back in without the lid for 15 more minutes.

Take out, leave to cool slights and top with fresh basil leaves.

Buon appetite!