Marcus Wareing - New Classics

½ bunch of basil, leaves finely sliced

20g pine nuts, toasted and finely chopped

Sprinkle the aubergine slices, on both sides, with table salt and pack them in a colander. Set the colander over a bowl for 1 hour while the moisture is extracted from the aubergine.

Meanwhile, make the tomato sauce. Heat the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat and add the onion and garlic. Cook for 10 minutes until golden, then add the red wine and cook until it has reduced to a syrup. Add the remaining sauce ingredients, season with sea salt and pepper, bring to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a blender or use a stick blender to blitz the sauce to a smooth consistency.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6, rinse the aubergine slices under cold running water and pat them dry with kitchen paper.

Pour enough vegetable oil into a large, deep frying pan to come up to approximately 1cm and place over high heat. When hot, dust the aubergine slices with flour then fry them, in batches, until golden, crispy on the outside and slightly soft. Add more oil to the pan as needed. Remove and transfer to sheets of kitchen paper to soak up the excess oil.

Place a layer of half the fried aubergine slices on the base of a deep, large ovenproof dish (approximately 20 × 30cm). Top with a layer of half the tomato sauce, then add a layer of half the mozzarella slices and sprinkle over some of the Parmesan. Repeat the layering again to use up all the aubergine, tomato sauce and cheese.

To make the crumb, mix the breadcrumbs with the soft butter then add the other ingredients. Mix well then season with sea salt and pepper. Cover the aubergines in the breadcrumb mix and bake the Parmigiana in the oven for 40–50 minutes until the top is golden brown.

SUMMER VEGETABLE LASAGNE

Vegetable lasagne is a great way to get kids to enjoy eating greens. Change the vegetables you use according to what you have in the fridge, or if you have anything that needs using up. We love lasagne at the weekends in our house. This is great for vegetarians but you won’t find your meat-eating friends complaining as it’s completely delicious.

Serves: 4–6

Preparation time: 35 minutes

Cooking time: around 1 hour 40 minutes

2 courgettes, sliced diagonally into 1cm-thick rounds

150g purple sprouting broccoli

100g fresh podded peas or petits pois

6 wild garlic leaves, finely sliced (optional)

12–14 sheets dried egg lasagne

250g buffalo mozzarella, thinly sliced

100g grated Cheddar cheese

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE TOMATO SAUCE

4 tbsp vegetable oil

2 onions, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

800g tomato passata or 2 × 400g tins chopped tomatoes

2 tbsp tomato purée

4 tbsp balsamic vinegar

4 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

100ml Vegetable Stock

FOR THE WHITE SAUCE

600ml whole milk

1 small onion, peeled but left whole

10 cloves

1 bay leaf

50g butter

50g plain flour

To make the tomato sauce, heat 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil in a saucepan. Add the onion, garlic and a generous pinch each of sea salt and pepper and cook over medium-low heat for 10 minutes until golden. Add the remaining sauce ingredients, bring to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer to a blender or use a stick blender to blitz the sauce to a smooth consistency. Season to taste and leave to cool.

To make the white sauce, put the milk in a small saucepan. Stud the onion with the cloves and add it to the milk along with the bay leaf. Gently bring to the boil over low heat. Remove from the heat and leave to infuse for a few minutes before removing the bay leaf and onion.

Melt the butter in a saucepan and add the flour, and a good pinch of sea salt and pepper. Cook over low heat for about 1 minute, stirring, to get rid of the floury taste, but avoid letting it brown. Add a ladleful of the infused milk and whisk to combine. Continue adding the milk, a little at a time, bring to the boil, then simmer gently for a few minutes, until you have a thick pouring sauce. Keep warm over low heat.

Heat a griddle pan over high heat and, when it’s smoking, drizzle the courgette slices with the remaining 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil, season with sea salt, and chargrill on each side until cooked, for a total of 7 minutes.

Bring a large pan of salted water to the boil and blanch the broccoli for 2 minutes. Remove from the water with a slotted spoon and refresh in iced water, then drain well and roughly chop. Using the same water, blanch the peas for 1 minute then refresh them in iced water and drain. Lightly crush the peas in a bowl with a fork.

Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/gas 6. To assemble the lasagne, put a layer of vegetables in the base of a large ovenproof dish (approximately 20 × 30cm), add the wild garlic leaves (if using) and cover with tomato sauce. Sit a layer of pasta sheets on top, pour over a layer of white sauce and add a few slices of mozzarella. Continue with the same process, adding three layers of pasta and finishing with a layer of white sauce and mozzarella. Finally, scatter with the Cheddar, sit the dish on a baking tray and bake for about 40 minutes, until the top is golden brown.

ROASTED RED PEPPER, ROCKET, CASHEW AND FETA FLATBREADS

This new twist on pizza is a great dish for a summer lunch or early evening supper. Making the flatbreads from scratch is well worth it. Try different toppings, too, depending on the season and what you have in your fridge. You can also make up a load of bases and freeze them between baking parchment (pre-proving).

Makes: 4 flatbreads

Preparation time: 30 minutes, plus 1 hour rising and 20 minutes proving

Cooking time: around 30 minutes

160g roasted red peppers, deseeded and skin removed, or piquillo peppers (jarred or tinned), drained and roughly chopped

50g cashew nuts, toasted and roughly chopped

100g feta cheese, crumbled

40g rocket

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

FOR THE FLATBREAD DOUGH

250g strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting

½ 7g sachet fast-action dried yeast or easy-bake yeast

½ tsp caster sugar

2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing and drizzling

½ tsp table salt

FOR THE DRESSING

2 tbsp tahini

3 tbsp Greek yoghurt

1 tbsp toasted sesame oil

1 tbsp sriracha sauce (hot chilli sauce)

1 tbsp chopped coriander

grated zest and juice of 1 lime

To make the flatbread dough, put the flour in a large bowl, stir in the yeast, sugar, olive oil and 130–150ml of warm water and mix together to form a soft, smooth dough that leaves the sides of the bowl. Turn it out of the bowl and knead it for 7–10 minutes. Alternatively, make the dough in a standmixer fitted with a dough hook.

Transfer the dough to a clean, lightly oiled bowl, cover with oiled clingfilm and leave in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until the dough has doubled in size.

Tip the risen dough out onto a floured work surface. Cut it into 4 equal pieces and roll each piece out to an oval approximately 25cm in length. Place each dough circle on a piece of floured baking parchment and stack them on top of each other on a baking tray. Cover lightly with clingfilm and leave in a warm place to prove for 20 minutes.