Pesto gratinated aubergine with caponata

Begin by making the tomato sauce for the caponata. Heat the oil in a pan and add the onion and a large pinch of salt. Cook until translucent (about 8 minutes)

Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for a further 2 minutes. Add the tin of tomatoes and leave to simmer for 25 minutes on a low heat or until the oil rises to the top

Meanwhile, make the pesto. Add all the ingredients apart from the breadcrumbs to a blender and blitz to a rough paste

Slice the aubergines head to toe about 2cm thick. Take 6 of the largest sliced centre-cut pieces and set aside. Dice the remaining aubergine slices into 2cm cubes

To make the caponata, heat some of the olive oil and begin by frying off the reserved aubergine slices until golden on both sides. Remove from the heat and allow to cool on kitchen paper to drain off any excess oil

Add a little more oil to the same pan and fry the diced aubergine until well caramelised. Remove and set aside to drain on kitchen paper. Work in batches to avoid overloading the pan

Once the aubergine cubes have all been browned off, add a little more oil to the same pan and sweat off the onion and celery with a pinch of salt. Cook until translucent, then add the garlic and chilli flakes and cook for a further 2 minutes

Add the red wine vinegar and leave to reduce by two-thirds. Add the aubergine back into the pan along with the tomato sauce, capers, olives, soaked raisins and sugar. Leave to simmer for 5-8 minutes, or until all warmed through

Remove from the heat and taste. Season with salt, lemon zest and juice then fold through the herbs and pine nuts (reserving some oregano leaves to garnish). It should have a sweet and sour flavour. If you have time, the caponata tastes even better when made up to 2 hours in advance to allow the favours to develop. It could also be made the day before and be served up at room temperature

Preheat an oven to 180°C/gas mark 4. Weigh out the pesto and add an equal amount of Panko breadcrumbs (you may not need all 150g). Stir to combine, then spread this mixture over the top of each slice of aubergine. Place in the oven for around 8 minutes or until you have a nice golden crumb

Serve up the slices with a generous helping of the caponata. Drizzle with a little extra oil and garnish the caponata with the reserved oregano leaves