Aubergine Parmigiana Pasta Bake

Preheat oven to 190°C fan

• Place the aubergines on a baking tray & season with salt. This will bring out the excess moisture to prevent any sogginess when baking. Pat the aubergines with a paper towel until you can’t get any more moisture out.
• Dip the aubergine circles into the egg wash and then the bread crumbs until you get an even crispy coating. Place them on a baking tray (evenly spaced if possible) before popping in the oven to roast for around 15 minutes or until golden brown.
• Meanwhile, par cook the pasta for 2 minutes less than the packet time. Drain the pasta while reserving around 100ml of pasta water. Pour the pasta into a baking tray (mine was around 10 by 12 inches) and add the tomato and garlic sauce, the tin chopped tomatoes and a sprinkle of parm. Season with salt & pepper.
• At this stage, the crispy aubergine circles should be ready, add them to the top of the tomatoey pasta to form a crispy aubergine layer. Before adding the mozzarella, squeeze the torn pieces in your hand to get rid of the excess moisture (this will get rid of the crispiness of aubergines which would be very sad). Scatter the DRY(ER) mozzarella over the aubergine and sprinkle lots of parmesan. Pop in the oven until the cheese turns golden brown (around 10 minutes for me), whilst still having some gooey bits of moz for the cheese pull that everyone knows & loves.
• Serve up with some fresh, finely chopped basil & dig in! Add some more salt & pepper to taste if needed.