This is one of my favourite dinners. It does involve rather a lot of preparation so I tend to make it in large quantities and save some for later. This recipe should easily serve six with a bit of crusty bread and a green salad on the side. It can be a bit sloppy to serve so you might want to try making it in individual portion-sized dishes if you have them. When not feeding guests I tend to make this quantity and split it into two dishes - one to cook and one to freeze. Any leftovers heat up nicely in the microwave.

To roast the aubergines, I use my Remoska (a kind of slow cooker) which gets them nice and brown without drying them out. I haven't tried roasting them in a conventional oven, but I would suggest it would be best to use a covered dish or cover them with tin foil, then remove the lid or foil for the last few minutes to brown them. If you try this recipe, do let me know how you get on with the aubergines!

Oh, and yes, that is a bulb of garlic, not a clove. That's my recommendation but it works with less if you're not a fan. The quantity of chillis suggested here is enough to add flavour but no real heat. Add more if you must!

ingredients

• 200g brown and/or green lentils
• 600ml / 1pint vegetable stock
• 1 medium carrot (diced)
• 2 large aubergines
• 1 green pepper
• 1 red pepper
• 1 bulb garlic
• 1 medium onion
• 2 or 3 fresh chillis (a mixture of green and red is nice but not essential)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp paprika (smoked paprika is especially good)
• 125g mature cheddar cheese (or similar)
• 200g mushrooms
• 1 glass red wine (alternatively 1tbsp balsamic vinegar)
• 600ml / 1 pint milk
• 6 tbsp flour
• 3 tbsp butter (or margarine)
• 2 egg yolks (beaten)
• salt
• black pepper
• 1 tbsp tomato ketchup

method

1. Simmer the lentils, stock and diced carrot together in a covered saucepan for about 45 minutes. By this time, the stock should be mostly absorbed. If there is a lot of liquid left, uncover the pan and simmer for a little longer until the remaining stock is absorbed.
2. Slice the aubergine into rounds about 1cm thick. Roast or grill until golden brown on both sides.
3. Finely slice the garlic, onion and chillis and fry gently in the olive oil for a few minutes until the onion is soft and the garlic begins to brown.
4. Dice the mushroom and peppers and add to the garlic, onion and chillis. Cook for another ten minutes or so until the peppers are soft.
5. Add the fried vegetables to the cooked lentils, and stir in the wine or balsamic vinegar, soy sauce, ketchup, cinnamon and paprika. Simmer uncovered for another 10 - 15 minutes until everything comes together in a nice thick sauce. Pour into a large oven dish (or several small ones).
6. Layer the aubergine slices over the lentil mixture.
7. Now for the bechemel sauce! Put the milk in a saucepan, add the flour and whisk together until smooth, then add the butter or margarine. Bring it to the boil, whisking all the time - you don't want it to go lumpy now, do you? When the sauce begins to boil, reduce the heat and simmer for another 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the egg yolks and season with salt and pepper. Quickly pour the finished sauce over the aubergines. Don't leave it standing around too long or it will go lumpy. I learned this the hard way.
8. Grate the cheese over the top then whack in the oven at about 200C for half an hour or so. It's ready when the cheese is golden brown and you can see the lentil sauce bubbling up round the sides.

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