I’ll admit that I didn’t think this one would turn out anything like as well as it did. Thankfully it was well worth the gamble.

Spare aubergine that I bought for no other reason other than it looked shiny – tick.

Block of puff pastry in the freezer – always.

This is a spin on a beautiful Spanish Aubergine Stew we adore devouring with tapas and a bottle of Rioja.

Ingredients:

• Puff Pastry
• 1 small Aubergine (Eggplant)
• ½ Courgette (Zucchini), sliced
• 1 Onion, sliced
• 2 Celery sticks, diced
• 2 Garlic cloves, crushed
• 300ml Passata
• Olive Oil
• Oregano
• Salt & Pepper
• 1 Egg, beaten
• Gruyere

Method:

Cut the aubergine into 2cm cubes, fry it off in plenty of olive oil and set it aside.

In the same pan, soften the onion, celery, garlic and courgette.  Add the fried aubergine, passata and a scattering of oregano.  Season and cook it down until nicely thickened – it mustn’t be too wet as the pastry won’t be very happy with you.

Roll the pastry out to about 5mm thick, cut to the desired size and score borders.  Pile on the filling, top with grated gruyere cheese, and brush the edges with beaten egg.

Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C for about 15 minutes.

Serve with rocket salad and perhaps that glass of Rioja.