Melanzane alla parmigiana, HP Pt2 & Pizza Hut

Back home from Oxford Sunday night, 1 days work and off out again on Monday night. This time for a long standing date with my niece Jess. Aunty Cath doesn't like films that aren't "real", so it's fallen on me to accompany Jess to the Harry Potter films over the years, so as well as a much looked forward to evening out, it's also the end of an era, no more HP films to go and see. Thankfully though we still have a couple of Breaking Dawns to look forward to before we have to think about what to do next. We always have a good laugh, Jess is brilliant company, the level of conversation has changed considerably over the years, but there's always plenty to say and I will miss our little outings when (if) they stop. We went as usual to Pizza Hut, we had one unfortunate occasion recently when Pizza Hut was full and we attempted a "Boneless Bucket" at Kentucky Fried Chicken, in the words of Pretty Woman "big mistake!". It took us a long time to decide what we were having, the menu had changed and the starter and pizza offer didn't seem to be on any more. We realised with more laughter on the waitresses third visit that we were actually ordering the same as we always did...2 starters of chicken strips with sweet chilli sauce, a pan american bbq chicken for Jess and a thin farmhouse for me. We were surprised when we were given salad bowls too, we didn't used to get them on the offer, but we made the most it, however, when our pizzas came we wished we hadn't as they were bigger than they used to be and we were already full! Still as it was Pizza Hut they didn't mind putting the left overs in a box for supper!
The film was great, a really good ending to the series of films. Of course you would think I would know what happened, having read all the books, but my terrible memory ensured there were quite a few surprises - not least what happened to Snape. There was quite an emotional part that had me reaching for the tissues, but don't put much on that I used to cry over Neighbours! We saw it in 2D, I couldn't see the point of seeing it in 3D as we'd watched the other 6 in 2D and I think we made the right decision. There were a few strange things in the special effects as some of the battle scenes were quite busy, but I kept track of all the important things. I'm looking forward to it coming out on Blu Ray as I'd like to see it again and watch it together with part one, both of us said we could've sat through the whole thing.

Tuesday night, a shock to the system, I had to think of something to cook, having had 3 nights off from the kitchen. As I had an aubergine left over from last week I decided to make a smaller version of

Melanzane alla parmigiana

Olive oil
4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
2 tins chopped tomatoes
1 tsp ground cinnamon (leave this out if you don't like it or don't fancy it)
2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp dried chilli (increase or decrease to your taste)
1/2 tsp sugar
2 small bunches of basil chopped
Salt and ground black pepper
3 aubergines, sliced thinly lengthways
2-3 balls of mozzarella

Preheat your oven to GM3/160C/325F. Fry the garlic in the olive oil for a couple of minutes, don't let it get too brown or it will go bitter. Add the tomatoes, cinnamon, oregano, chilli, seasoning and sugar and simmer for 15 minutes. While it's simmering either griddle your aubergine slices, or put them in a George "Formby" Foreman grill, cook until nicely marked and tender.
Get an oven proof dish. Stir the basil into the tomato sauce and then pour half into the dish. Layer half the aubergines on top, add another layer of the sauce and top with the rest of the aubergine. Finally top the whole thing with sliced or grated mozzarella and bake in the over for 35-40 minutes until it is bubbling and nicely browned.

We served ours with couscous, I soaked the couscous in a chicken stock infused with some cumin, coriander and turmeric and some salt and pepper. Finally, I stirred in some roasted courgette, fried onions and mushrooms. But you could serve it with pasta, grilled or steamed chicken breasts, roast lamb.

The couscous was really tasty, the roasted courgettes and spices gave it a lovely taste, as sometimes I find plain couscous a little bland. It was a perfect accompaniment to the Melanzane which was warm from the cinnamon and spicy from the chilli, but herby and tomatoey, the aubergines made up for no meat and the cheese was lovely and crunchy on top and chewy underneath, so lots of flavours and textures to savour.