Fried Aubergine (Eggplant) Lasagne

First make the tomato sauce. In a saucepan, add the tomatoes, onion, garlic, olive oil and herbs. Rinse the tin out with about half a tin's worth of water and add that to the same pan. You want a good moist sauce to cook the pasta so don't worry if you think it is too runny. Bring the pan to the boil, turn down the heat to low and simmer - covered - for 20 to 30mins.

Meanwhile, mix the egg and parmesan together in a bowl, season with salt and pepper. Slice the aubergine lengthwise into about 8 slices. Each being roughly 5mm (1/4") thick. In a large frying pan heat some olive oil until nearly smoking hot. Brush one side of an aubergine slice with the egg/cheese mixture and put in the frying pan, eggy side down. Then brush the other side and then repeat the process starting on the next slice. As you go, turn the slices that are in the pan when they are golden brown and remove once cooked on both sides onto a plate with some kitchen paper to absorb the excess oil. Continue until you have done all the aubergine slices.

Next make the white sauce. Melt the butter in a saucepan and add a good couple of tablespoons of plain flour. Cook for a couple of minutes. Then add 1/2pt of milk slowly to the pan stirring continuously to ensure it doesn't stick or go lumpy. It can help if you heat up the milk first. When the sauce is thick, stir in the grated parmesan, grate some nutmeg and season with salt and pepper. (If it does go lumpy, you can strain it through a reasonably fine wire sieve pushing with the back of wooden spoon to help it through.)

Drain and thinly slice (as much as you can anyway) the Mozzarella balls.

Now assemble the Lasagne.

Pour a third of the tomato sauce into the bottom of your dish. Cover with sheets of lasagne. Next, arrange the aubergine strips on top of the lasagne and pour over half the white sauce. Cover with another layer of Lasagne sheets. Cover this layer with the mozzarella cheese and pour over the next third of the tomato sauce. Cover this with the final layer of lasagne sheets. Finally pour over the remaining tomato sauce and then cover with the rest of the white sauce. Sprinkle the top with the grated parmesan cheese. Put the whole thing in a hot oven and cook for about 30-45mins until the top is golden brown and the pasta is thoroughly cooked.

Serve with a crisp green salad and a large glass of Pinot Grigio.