If you're anything like me you will understand this moment:
you come home from work starving and you really fancy something healthy and delicious, you open the fridge full of anticipation of what you can make, and are faced with...oh...half a courgette, half an aubergine, a sorry looking lump of cheese. Misery begins to take over, but never fear! I have the solution, which I created when I was faced with exactly the same sorry situation in my fridge tonight.
That aubergine, courgette and sorry lump of cheese (and a few other bits) created this....the ultimate use-up dish!
For yours you will need:
A random assortment of half-eaten vegetables, I used:
Half a courgette (that's zucchini for y'all across the pond)
Half an aubergine (and that's eggplant)
2 x half peppers
A pack of going-soft cherry tomatoes
1 onion
1 clove of garlic
Chicken breasts
A hunk of chorizo which needed to be used up
The end of a pack of red split lentils
Half a carton of passata
Dried oregano
Fresh thyme (I freeze mine and then just pick off the leaves as I need)
2 teaspoons of cinnamon powder
A pinch of brown sugar
A glug of red wine
Salt and pepper to taste
A sorry lump of cheddar to top it all off
1. First slice your aubergine and courgette and place on a plate. Sprinkle with salt and leave to one side. Put your lentils on to boil.
2. Next, slice your peppers and place then skin-side up on a baking tray, with your cherry toms and place them under a hot grill.
3. While they are under the grill, glug some olive oil in a pan, crush in a garlic clove (my favourite kitchen short-cut) and slice an onion. Add to the pan of oil and cook on a low heat until softened.
4. Next, chop your chicken and add to the pan and cook through. Your peppers and tomatoes should be nicely charred and the skins splitting by now. Add the tomatoes to the pan and gently mash them up.
5. Now drain your lentils and add them to the pan, with the chopped chorizo, passata, oregano, thyme, cinnamon, sugar and wine and salt and pepper.
6. Leave to simmer on a medium heat until fully thickened. Put your aubergines and courgettes into a colander and rinse thoroughly. Then dry them off with kitchen towel and place a layer in the bottom of a oven-proof dish. Place over a layer of the mixture then add another layer of the veggies, adding in the charred peppers on the top.
7. Finish it off with a beautiful layer of grated cheese and cook in the oven on 180 degrees for about 15-20 mins.
Serve with rice and a nice glass of red for a deliciously tasty and healthy dish, from the leftovers in your fridge!
Enjoy!