Sophie says: “Believe it or not, it’s this recipe that got my publisher, Céline, excited about me. So, for that, and the fact that this is, hands down, one of the tastiest recipes I’ve ever written – thank you. It’s your classic Parmigiana: layers of meltingly soft aubergine, rich tomato sauce and all the mozzarella, with a spicy porky twist.”

Serves 4

Takes 1 hour 45 minutes

Ingredients

• 2 banana shallots
• 4 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
• 3 large or 4 small aubergines (eggplants)
• 100–125g (3½–4½oz) ’nduja (depending on how spicy you like it)
• 4 fat garlic cloves
• large handful of basil
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste (concentrated purée)
• 2 x 400g (14oz) tins plum tomatoes
• big pinch of caster (superfine) sugar (optional)
• 250g (9oz) buffalo mozzarella
• 50–75g (1¾–2¾oz) parmesan
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Tip:

The Parmigiana can be happily assembled the day before and kept in the fridge, then baked the next day.

Veggie?

Leave out the ’nduja and sub for 1–2 teaspoons chilli flakes and 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar instead, and sub the parmesan for a veggie alternative.

Method

Preheat your oven to 200°C/180°C fan/400°F/gas mark 6.

Finely chop the shallots. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the shallots and a pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, for six–eight minutes until softened but not coloured.

Meanwhile slice the aubergines lengthways into long 5mm (¼ inch) slices. Put into a large bowl, sprinkle with salt and toss together.

Add the ’nduja to the shallots, using the back of your spoon to break it down. Once ‘melted’, finely chop the garlic cloves and finely slice the basil stalks. Add both to the pan and cook for 1 minute, then stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute more.

Tip in the plum tomatoes. Half-fill one of the tins with water and add this too. Roughly break up the tomatoes with your spoon, then leave the sauce to slowly cook away for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, pour away any liquid that has collected at the bottom of the aubergine bowl, then toss the aubergines with the remaining three tablespoons olive oil.

Heat a large frying pan over a high heat. Fry the aubergine slices in batches until golden and charred on both sides; this will take around five minutes for each batch. Transfer to a plate and continue until all the aubergine slices have been fried.

Returning to the sauce, season it to taste, adding a pinch of sugar if needed. Take off the heat. Pick the basil leaves.

Assembly time! I like to do four layers. Spread a spoonful of the tomato sauce across the bottom of a 20 × 30cm (8 × 12 inch) baking dish. Top with a layer of aubergine slices, using about a quarter of them, followed by about a quarter of the remaining sauce. Scatter over about a quarter of the basil leaves and tear over about a quarter of the mozzarella. Grate a layer of parmesan over the top, using a bit less than a quarter here. Repeat this layering three more times, making the last layer of parmesan really thick – this will give you a nice golden crust when baked.

Drizzle with a little olive oil, then bake for 25–30 minutes until deeply golden and bubbling around the sides.

Leave to cool for five minutes (an unbearable wait) before digging in. Serve with the Shallot & Caper Salad. Mind-blowing.

Sophie says: “I love a vegan curry, especially one that is heavy on spice, giving you little pops of flavour as you’re eating. To bring things up a notch, I’ve roasted the veg and added a crispy garlic-and-coriander-naan crouton situation. Banging.

Serves 4

Takes 1 hour

Ingredients

• 500g (1lb 2oz) new potatoes
• 1 large cauliflower
• 6 tablespoons rapeseed or other neutral oil
• 3 tablespoons curry powder
• 1 onion
• large thumb-sized piece of fresh ginger
• 1 green or red chilli
• 7 garlic cloves
• handful of coriander (cilantro)
• 4 tablespoons whole spices (I like a mix of cumin, coriander, mustard and fennel seeds)
• 2 x 400g (14oz) tins coconut milk
• 100g (3½oz) baby spinach leaves
• 2 naans (check the ingredients if you’re vegan)
• juice of 1 lime
• cooked rice, to serve
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method

Preheat your oven to 220°C/200°C fan/425°F/gas mark 7.

Leaving their skins on, slice the potatoes into 1cm (½ inch) rounds, then chop the cauliflower (stalk and all) into medium-sized pieces. Toss the potato and cauliflower on a large baking tray with four tablespoons of the oil and two tablespoons of the curry powder. Season, then spread into a single layer so they roast evenly. Roast for 25–30 minutes, tossing halfway.

Meanwhile, roughly chop the onion, ginger, chilli and three of the garlic cloves. Put into a blender or small food processor. Add the coriander stalks (keep the leaves for later), along with the remaining curry powder and five tablespoons water. Blitz to form a curry paste.

Heat one tablespoon of the oil in a large saucepan over a medium–high heat. Add the curry paste and cook, stirring regularly, for five minutes until the water has evaporated.

Add two tablespoons of the whole spices, cook for one minute more, then pour in the coconut milk. Quarter-fill one of the tins with water and pour into the pan. Bring to a boil,

then reduce the heat to medium and leave the sauce to bubble away until the veg has finished roasting.

Add the roasted veg to the curry sauce and set aside the tray (don’t wash it!). Stir carefully. Dump in the spinach, then leave over a low heat to wilt.

For the naan croutons, finely grate the remaining  four garlic cloves into a bowl and stir in the remaining oil. Tear the naan into crouton-sized pieces, then place on the reserved tray in a single layer. Drizzle with the garlic oil and season. Roast for five minutes, then add the remaining whole spices, toss to coat and roast for another two–three minutes until the croutons are evenly golden and crisp.

Stir the lime juice into the curry and season to taste.

Top with the coriander leaves and garlic naan croutons. Serve with rice at the table. An epic win.

Sophie says: “What could be better than dauphinois? Dauphinois with caramelised onions, garlic and thyme, PLUS anchovies and chilli – that’s what. It’s going to blow your mind.

Serves 6–8 Takes 2 hours 30 minutes 

Ingredients

• 3 large onions
• 1.5kg (3lb 5oz) potatoes (I like to use Maris Pipers or King Edwards)
• 50g (1¾oz) tin of anchovies, in oil
• ½–1 teaspoon chilli flakes knob of soft salted butter
• 2–3 fat garlic cloves
• 50g (1¾oz) parmesan
• handful of thyme sprigs
• 450ml (16fl oz) whole milk
• 450ml (16fl oz) double (heavy) cream
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Tip: 

I love making this in advance, baking it for 1 hour, then leaving to cool completely. To reheat, remove the foil and cook for 40 minutes.

Veggie?

Omit the anchovies altogether, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the onions instead and swap the parmesan for 100g (3½oz) grated cheddar.

Method

Finely slice the onions, then scrape into a saucepan over a medium–high heat. Pour in 250ml (9fl oz) water and add a big pinch of salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes, until the water has evaporated.

Meanwhile, peel the potatoes and slice them very finely. Put the sliced potatoes into a large bowl of cold water – this stops them going brown and removes some of their starch.

Pour the oil from the anchovies into the pan and cook over a medium heat, stirring regularly, for 15 minutes, until golden and caramelised.

Add the anchovies and chilli flakes into the pan. Smoosh with the back of a spoon and cook for a few minutes until the anchovies have ‘melted’, then remove from the heat.

Preheat your oven to 180°C/160°C fan/350°F/gas mark.4. Rub the butter across the bottom of a medium-sized, deep rectangular baking dish.

Finely chop the garlic. Finely grate the parmesan. Strip the thyme from it sprigs into a jug, then measure in the milk and cream. Season generously.

Drain the potatoes from the cold water and pat dry with a clean tea towel. Now the assembly process can begin.

Fill the dish with a layer of potatoes, then top with some of the garlic, a little bit of cheese and some of the caramelised onions. Repeat until all the potatoes, onions and garlic have been used up, making sure to leave a good amount of cheese for scattering over the top. I never bother making the bottom layers neat, just the top one.

Pour over the cream mixture, pressing down the potatoes to make sure they are submerged, then scatter over the remaining cheese.

Cover with foil and bake for one hour, then remove the foil and bake for a further 30 minutes until the potatoes are completely soft (a cutlery knife should slide in easily) and the top is bubbling and golden. If you want a little more colour, slide under the grill for the final few minutes. Bliss.

Sundays: A cookbook by Sophie Godwin (£20, Murdoch Books) is out now