This is one of those recipes that is filling enough to satisfy on a dull summers day, and yet still retains the sunshine. It has a beautiful fusion of flavours that I never really expected when I first prepared it. Please, whatever you do don’t stick religiously to the quantities given below; they are estimates, and variations on quantities and ingredients work well. The quantities given below will be enough for 2 people, and this doesn’t need to be served with anything else.

Ingredients

• 1 onion
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 250g tomatoes
• 1 aubergine
• 1 courgette
• 1 yellow pepper (doesn’t have to be yellow, but the colour makes the dish look nice)
• 100g mushrooms
• Black pepper
• Olive oil, to fry (If you’ve got herb/garlic/chilli infused olive oil use that)
• 200g grated cheese (I use cheddar)
• 1 Ciabatta / Foccacia / nice Mediterranean bread (If you can get something flavoured that is all the better)

For the sauce, you will need EITHER

• Juice of ½ a lemon
• Lots of chopped basil (use fresh)

OR

• Juice of 1 lemon
• Soy sauce

Method

1. Chop and salt the aubergine in order to remove some of the water and the bitter juices, leave for 15 minutes.
2. Chop the rest of the vegetables.
3. Fry the onion and garlic until soft.
4. Add the pepper and courgette, fry for 5 minutes.
5. Rinse the aubergine, and squeeze to remove the water and juice. Add to the frying pan with the mushrooms and black pepper and fry for a further 10 minutes.
6. Add the tomatoes to the pan, with the lemon juice and basil / soy sauce. Fry until the tomatoes are soft.
7. Cut the bread into slices. Place the vegetable mixture on top of the bread, and top with the grated cheese.