Delicious Mediterranean Layered Bake | Slimming Eats (2024)

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil
• ½ red pepper, diced
• ½ green pepper, diced
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
• 400g (14oz) of chopped tomatoes (canned)
• 8 tablespoons of tomato paste (puree)
• 480ml (2 cups) of chicken or vegetable stock
• 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
• a handful of fresh basil, chopped
• 1 teaspoon of dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon of fennel seeds, crushed
• 1 large aubergine (eggplant), sliced thinly lengthways
• 3 courgettes (zucchini), sliced thinly lengthways
• 1kg (35oz) of waxy potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (I used Yukon golds)
• 90g (3.2oz) of vegetarian Italian style hard cheese
• 100g (3.5oz) of mozzarella
• 1.5 tablespoons of cornstarch
• 300ml (1.25 cups) of 1% milk
• Olive Oil Spray
• Chopped Italian parsley
• salt and black pepper.

Instructions

1. Add the sliced potatoes to a large saucepan with water and parboil (they should still be firm in the centre, but slightly softened on outside). Drain and set aside.
2. Add the olive oil to a frying pan over a medium high heat, once hot, add the onion and fry for a couple of minutes until softened
3. Add the peppers and garlic and fry for a further couple of minutes.
4. Add the chopped tomatoes, tomato paste (puree), stock, balsamic vinegar, oregano, fresh basil and crushed fennel seeds.
5. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat, and allow to gently bubble for 15-20 minutes until sauce reduces down and thickens (it's important to let the sauce reduce down and thicken otherwise it will be too watery).
6. Taste sauce and season as needed with salt and black pepper.
7. Set aside.
8. Wipe the frying pan clean, spray with olive oil spray and place over medium heat, add the courgette and aubergine in batches until lightly browned on all sides and softened, seasoning with a little salt and black pepper as you do.
9. Then you can begin the layering.
10. Add half the tomato sauce to the bottom of the baking tray.
11. Then add half the courgette and half the aubergine.
12. Add half the potato slices in a then layer, slightly overlapping each other as you do.
13. Then add the remaining tomato sauce, another layer of aubergine and courgette and then the final layer of potatoes.
14. Preheat oven to 200c/fan 180c/400f or gas mark 6
15. Add the milk to a saucepan, stir the cornstarch with a couple of tablespoon of water to make a slurry, add this into the milk, slowly heating until it starts to thicken. As it starts to thicken, stir in 30g of the Italian style hard cheese until melted into the sauce.
16. Pour the sauce over the potatoes, spreading out so it covers evenly with a spatula
17. Top with the remaining Italian style hard cheese and mozzarella.
18. Cover with foil (it's important you use a deep enough tray so that the cheese doesn't touch the foil when covered)
19. Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, remove foil and continue to bake for another 20-30 minutes until the top is lovely and golden.
20. Sprinkle with some fresh chopped parsley
21. Serve and enjoy!!

Notes

Recommended Products

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  OXO Good Grips 11160000UK Non-Stick Pro Rectangle Cake Tin, Gold, 34.3 x 24.1 x 5.3 cm

Nutritional information is an estimate and is to be used for informational purposes only. Ingredients can vary greatly from brand to brand and therefore it would be impossible to give accurate information.