Embracing Scottish roots with Italian cooking

Another country that people can never comprehend me eating in is Italy, and with good reason too; this beautiful country is renowned for being passionate about glorious meat dishes and sumptuous use of my red-skinned arch enemy. I've been there once (to Venice) and can honestly say, would-be-foodie that I am, eating was one of my favourite parts. Granted, I have a ferocious sweet tooth and did invest a lot of my time in finding the best tirimisu; but the savoury offering was just as awe-inspiring. I had a lovely Italian friend and colleague who taught me one phrase which I have since tattooed on my brain:

"Sono allergica ai pomodori"

'I am allergic to tomatoes' (kinda, whatever). This, although a definite cause of many confused looks, proved invaluable. Perhaps it should be my new year's resolution to learn the phrase in 10 different languages (would certainly be more useful than the other foreign phrases I know for some reason - 'I have an apple' in Spanish and 'Can I take off my jumper?' in French).

Man in the Moment in Venice, 2007. He was perhaps someone I'd informed of my confusing 'allergy'

Use of this phrase has become a bit of a theme in my life, and comes into play whenever I go out to restaurants. One such restaurant was 21 in Covent Garden, which was the choice for our office Christmas party in the December just gone. This also returned me to the theme of  - erm, very Christmassy - Italian food. As with many office parties, we were given in advance a menu from which we had to choose one of four dishes from each of the three courses. I personally cannot stand this format, as it nearly always only presents one veggie option, and indeed my only 'choices' were the Mushroom Risotto for starter, Aubergine Parmigiana for main and (woe betide!) Tirimisu for dessert (there were actually other desserts I could have picked, but I think I've established my obsession with tirimisu now). To not appear too fussy, I resolved to just take the risotto and pick the mushrooms out quietly (it really was delicious apart from the mushrooms!), but I had to make clear my 'allergy' for tomatoes. 21 did not get the memo until the day itself, but they gave what was a sincerely super-duper service and made the quick decision to make the parmigiana with a parmesan sauce instead of a juicy, red tomato one. It was gorgeous (and that was after a whole bottle of wine to myself - think of how much better it would have tasted with my senses fully engaged!), and I've resolved to make my own version ever since. Excellent job, 21!

Queue last week's Burn's Night, because, um, I thought aubergine had the nearest visual equivalence to a haggis that I could eat.

Aubergine Parmesan Parmigiana 

Aww, little haggis-like aubergines

1) Preheat oven to 170C. Chop the aubergine into slices that are about 2cm thick. I've read in various other recipes that you should either griddle or barbecue the aubergines before use - having neither of these things to hand I gave them a quick fry in garlic oil, to remove any excess moisture.

2) Make the sauce: heat the flour and butter over a low heat and mix continuously until there is almost a cakemix looking batter that comes away from the sides. Take off the heat. Add a little of the milk, mix in thoroughly, and gradually add the rest until all used. Put back on the heat and gradually add all the cheese. Stir continuously until the cheese has melted and the sauce thickened. Do not allow to boil!

3) Put a small layer of the sauce in the bottom of an earthenware dish (either one large one or some little ones if you want to serve individually - this is a nice touch). Having recently broken my best earthenware dish (yep) I used the bottom half of my lovely tagine - this worked well but it's best to use something with a flat bottom. Place in a layer of aubergine slices, then cover with more sauce, then continue to layer in this fashion. You should finish with a layer of aubergine and a drizzle of sauce - don't cover the top aubergines.

4) Dust with smoked paprika, dried rosemary, salt and pepper, and a nice grating of parmesan. Bake for about 30mins or until the aubergine is browned well and the sauce bubbling. Once you've taken out the oven, top with a wee bit extra parmesan and a good chop of chives.

5) Serve! I plated with rocket, a drizzle of balsamic and some nice crusty bread. I had every intention of making my own bread (onion and herb bread, at that) using a bread maker I'd recently been given... on opening said bread maker, no blade was present. I have a bladeless bread maker. Nuff said.

This was a super easy dish that I think could work well on a weekend or work night, because there's really not that much fuss involved. It also makes a fab starter in smaller portions, or something on the side for you meat-eaters. I had a small portion leftover which I served with brown rice and a dollop of yoghurt the next day.

Italians are passionate about their food, and there's no reason why the fussiest of us shouldn't be too - even at Christmas and Burn's Night...!

Served: two really big portions, four starters, or three medium portions. Take your pick.

Took: About 45mins including all prep (this included search time for a suitable earthenware dish). My oven does work quickly, it should be noted.

Things that went wrong: Honestly, apart from the fact I realised I was in possession of a big, unfunctioning bread maker, nothing went wrong. I could have done with a bit more salt, but I'm sure my health thanks me for that.