3 more ways with eggplant

• Roasted eggplant puree

Place whole eggplant on a hot barbecue and cook, turning often, until the skin is completely black.  Let cool. Peel off the skin over the sink and allow the juices to drain away. Put the flesh in a food processor and whiz til fluffy. Mix with chopped tomatoes, a little tahini and fresh parsley and serve with panfried fish. Or to make a baba ganoush, add a spoonful off tahini, the pulp from two garlic cloves boiled until soft and salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste.

• Steamed eggplant with miso sauce

Cut an eggplant into 1cm thick slices and steam until soft. Serve smeared with a dressing made from a tablespoon  of miso, a tabelsppon of ground roasted sesame seeds and a teaspoon of sugar, thinned with a little water.

• Baked eggplant and tomato

Preheat oven to 220. Roll a teaspoon of olive oil around a small gratin dish. Slice an eggplant lengthways into thick slabs and lie in the dish. Sprinkle with salt and a mix of chopped fresh herbs, such as thyme, rosemary, sage and basil. Lay thickly sliced tomatoes over the eggplant, drizzle over another teaspoon of olive oil and bake for 45 minutes, until soft.

By Robin Powell