Pasta Grannies make timballo

Well, this video is a little bit different. For starters, we’re in London visiting a pal of mine called Anna Maggio. We met when we were part of the background crowd for a Rick Stein Spanish Christmas special – we hung around in the back row chatting sotto voce about Italian food. Anna was researcher for Rick on his Mediterranean Escape series, as well as organising the late Keith Floyd in his travels through Italy. So take a bow, Anna, you’re wonderful.

For Anna’s recipe, you will need:

2 aubergine/eggplants, thinly sliced and salted for half an hour (even if they are not bitter, I find this helps stop the slices from absorbing too much oil)

2 eggs, beaten

plain flour

For the tomato sauce:

1 onion, sliced

2 garlic cloves, left whole

1 bottle tomato passata

1 400g tin of whole tomatoes

2 sprigs basil

1 teaspoon sugar and 1/2 teaspoon salt

1 packet of short tube pasta such as penne

To assemble the pasta:

2 mozzarella balls, cubed

4 tablespoons grated parmigiano reggiano (although in Puglia traditionally this would have been pecorino, so substitute if you wish)

chopped basil