3-4 portions.You will need 1 aubergine,small onion (50g), some mushrooms olive oil, 1/4 carton passata, mozzarella cheese, cream cheese, double creamTake the aubergine and cut off the end with the green stalkCut the aubergine in slices that best suit the dish you will cook in.I have gone for length ways but circles are fine too. cut them quite thin and throw away the very last bit with the skin and no flesh on.Chop up the onion small and slice up the mushrooms, use as many mushrooms as you like, ( the onion is high in carbs and so is limited to 50g about 5 carbs worth in the whole thing, you can leave it out if you prefer)The aubergine will benefit from being pre -cooked if you have the time. I fried it in the pan with olive oil, it soaks up oil like a sponge which is great for keto but if you need to use less fat then brush the oil on the aubergine and put it on a baking tray for about 10-15 minutes gas 5 180 deg,.Once all the aubergines are cooked, put to one side while you cook everything elsefry off the onion and mushrooms in the pan you fried the aubergine in, adding more oil if needed. I you want to you can add some herbs for flavourWhen the onions have softened and the mushroom are just about cooked (they will be cooked in the oven later so they dont have to be fully cooked.) add a small amount of passata to the pan ( passata is high in carbs 250g half a carton is 16 carbs, by using 1/4 carton that gives it about 8 for the dish)Add some water to the pan to create a sauce, you dont need as much as you might think maybe a wine glass full. Allow to mix and cook while you prepare the toppingThe topping is about 1/4 tub cream cheese,a splash of cream and hard cheese of your choice, I was going to use he cheddar in the photo but as I was making it I remembered I had some Parmesan in the freezer so I used a good handful of that, (This is my usual cheese recipe for cauli cheese) mix together well, if its too thick add more cream.find an oven proof dish, I think it works better if it is deep and not too wide across, otherwise you will not have enough cheese sauce.Start to layer the cooked ingredients, don’t worry if the sauce doesn’t cover the bottom, it creates more sauce as it cookes for the vegetables.Add a layer of aubergine and if you do not need it to be vegetarian you can add a slice of ham. keep layering,tomato, aubergine and ham in single layers till everything is used up. finish with a layer of tomato on the top layerPour over the cheese topping and top with more cheese in this case I found some mozzarella balls that needed using , otherwise I would have sprinkled the grated mozzarella in the first picture.Bake for 30-45 minutes gas 5 180 deg-you can’t really overcook this but if you under cook it and haven’t pre- cooked the aubergines it wont taste good. If using raw aubergines cook for 1 hour at gas 4/ 150degIts not too pretty on the plate and as you can see it makes lots of sauce, we left loads in the dish. It does fill that comfort food creamy tomato dish that you sometimes have to have.
