Baked aubergine and mushroom stacks with tomato and balsamic vinegar

Serves 4

The aubergine stacks:
2 tablespoons/30 ml olive oil
2-3 large aubergines, sliced across in 2 cm/0.8 in wide slices (you
should have 16 slices)
8 large black mushrooms, wiped clean
salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 tablespoons/60 ml soft goat’s cheese
4 slices of brie, medium flavored
8 basil leaves

The tomato sauce
1 tablespoon/15 ml olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
3 large very ripe tomatoes, skinned and deseeded, roughly chopped
3 sprigs fresh rosemary, finely chopped
few sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves picked
salt and freshly ground black pepper
vegetable stock (optional), if needed

The dressing:
3 tablespoons/45 ml balsamic vinegar (not an expensive grade)
2 tablespoons/30 ml caster sugar
2 tablespoons/30 l water
zest of one lemon, finely chopped
2 tablespoons/30 ml chives, finely sliced

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan and fry the aubergine slices until golden brown on both sides. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. In the same pan, fry the mushrooms, until they have released all their moisture. Remove from the heat and set aside.

For the tomatoes, heat the olive oil and over medium heat, fry the onion and garlic for about 1 minute. Turn up the heat, add the tomato and cook for about 10 minutes – nothing more. It must still retain the freshness. Add the herbs and season well. Reserve about 1 cup/250 ml for drizzling at the end.

For the dressing, bring the balsamic vinegar and sugar to the boil and remove from the heat immediately. (By the time you need to use the balsamic vinegar it might have turned too sticky to use. Just add a little water and reheat, stirring well.) Add the lemon zest and set aside.

Preheat the oven to 220°C/422°F.

To assemble:
In a heatproof dish make four “towers” starting at the bottom with one layer of aubergine, followed by a mushroom, a spoon full of tomato sauce and a layer of the soft goat’s cheese crumbled. Repeat this procedure until all the vegetables have been used, finishing with tomato. Put a slice of brie on top, scatter the crumb mixture over and drizzle a little bit of olive oil over. Put in the oven for about 10 minutes or until the brie starts bubbling. Remove from the oven and put a ”tower” on each plate. Drizzle the reserved tomato sauce around and a swirl of the balsamic vinegar glaze. Sprinkle the chopped chives and spring onions around, and serve immediately. If you have sufficient size ovenproof dishes, each “tower” can be baked and served individually.