Vegan MoFo - Eggplant Gratin

E is for eggplant - one of my favourite vegetables!  I love eggplant when it is cooked until it is soft & silky & this is exactly how it turned out in this eggplant gratin.  It is not the most photogenic meal, but it was well liked - even by my mother in law! 

Ingredients (serves 4)

• 1 eggplant sliced
• 1 onion diced
• 1 clove garlic crushed
• 1 tsp olive oil
• Fresh chopped sage to taste
• Fresh chopped basil to taste
• 1 1/2 cups tomato passata
• 1/2 cup red wine
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1/4 cup panko
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees
2. Heat olive oil in frypan over medium heat
3. Add onion & garlic, cook stirring until onion is translucent & cooked through
4. Add tomato paste & cook stirring for a minute
5. Add the red wine & allow to simmer to cook off the alcohol
6. Add the passata & leave to simmer for around 10 minutes or longer if you want
7. Season to taste & add in the fresh herbs
8. Get your cooking dish out & spread a thin layer of sauce over the base of it - I cooked my gratin in a loaf pan, but you can also use a casserole/lasagne dish
9. Place a layer of eggplant slices on top & top with a layer of sauce
10. Repeat the layers until you have used all the ingredients up or reached the top of your dish, finishing with a layer of sauce
11. Mix together the panko & nutritional yeast in a small bowl & spread it over the top layer of sauce
12. Place in oven for around 45 minutes or until the eggplant is really soft & well cooked through - the breadcrumb topping of mine browned quite quickly so I covered it with foil for the reemainder of the cooking time.