Spaghetti and Aubergine Involtini (Gino D'Acampo)

I borrowed Gino D'Acampo's Fantastico cookbook from my dad as him and my step mum always make such delicious food from it. As I was flicking through, a good number of recipes caught my eye and the other night I was stuck for what to make for dinner, and this particular recipe came to mind. I thought it would be fairly easy (albeit a little bit faffy) and quite filling for something that is supposed to be a starter.

Serves 2-4 depending on how you use the recipe... I halved the ingredients below and ate half of it one night and half the next! There was more than enough!

Ingredients

2 whole aubergines

5 tablespoons olive oil

(1 garlic clove, chopped

500g tinned chopped tomatoes - I didn't have any tinned tomatoes in the house, oops! But luckily we had a pre-made sauce, not usually my preference but it was a tomato and basil sauce and I added a drop of garlic oil and lemon juice)

10 fresh basil leaves

350g spaghetti (I ended up using spaghettini - even thinner spaghetti! That actually worked really well, but any would do!)

2 mozzarella balls, sliced

100g parmesan, grated

Extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

Start by slicing the aubergine(s), about 1cm thick. Place in a large sieve, sprinkle with salt and leave for around 30 minutes to let the excess water drain. I was naughty (well as naughty as you can be regarding aubergines and salt...) but only left it for around 5 minutes, I was hungry and short of time!

Heat a griddle/frying pan with a drizzle of olive oil and fry the aubergine slices on each side until slightly browned, then set aside and leave to cool.

Get a saucepan on and fill with slightly salted boiling water. Get the spaghetti cooking until al dente.

Meanwhile, get the heat on a frying pan and either -

Fry the chopped garlic until golden, then add chopped tinned tomatoes, season and leave to simmer. Add the basil leaves.

Or...(my lazy way!)

Empty half the contents of a pre made tomato sauce into a frying pan, add a drizzle of garlic oil, a splash of lemon juice, season and leave to simmer. Add the basil leaves.

When the sauce is cooked through, take off the heat, add the spaghetti and mix well so it is all coated in a lovely fragrant sauce.

Preheat the oven to 200C. Place an aubergine slice on an oven tray, spoon some of the tomato dressed spaghetti in the middle and add a slice of mozzarella to the top of it, then roll up and secure with a toothpick. (I actually found that the aubergines held well without a toothpick, they sort of just bound together in a way!) Prepare yourselves for the messy photos...

Repeat the process until all of the aubergines are rolled up, then grate over some parmesan cheese and pop in the oven for 10 minutes until the cheese is melty and bubbling. Serve with a simple spinach and tomato salad.

Enjoy!