Aubergine, Tomato & Goat's Cheese Bake

nom nom nom... A summery dish of aubergine, tomato and goat's cheese bake. For this you will need:

• One aubergine
• Two peppers
• One red onion
• Tomatoes ( I used 6 large plum toms)
• Handful of spinach leaves
• 100g of hard goat's cheese chopped into chunks
  
• One garlic clove
• Handful of sunflower seeds
  
• Black pepper & fresh herbs (I used basil, oregano & rosemary)

Aubergine is a fickle beast, when it's good - it's very, very good & when it's bad - its awful. Who hasn't had some tasteless, watery aubergine spoiling their meal - yuk! This recipe requires some prep work with the purple fella - but it is well worth it, I promise!

Firstly chop an aubergine into slices, put in a colander over a bowl, cover with salt & leave for half an hour (don't worry the aubergine will not take on the salty flavour). Then rinse the aubergine well in water and put on kitchen towel to dry off. Once they are dry (about 10 mins or so) fry the slices in a little oil to brown them and leave aside.

Chop a red onion into slices, crush garlic clove and gently cook them till the onion is soft in a little oil. Then in an ovenproof dish layer the aubergine, onion, tomato and pepper slices, spinach leaves and goat's cheese. Season with black pepper and add fresh herbs as you go along.

The last layer should be lots of tomato slices, goat's cheese, sunflower seeds (for extra bite). Cover and put in the oven on 180 degrees for about 40 minutes.
Once cooked serve with some green salad and crusty bread. You could change the cheese to your favourite and add some courgette or squash chunks if you fancy it.