Garlic!!!!!!! On Bread???.......and Cake!

A very busy day for me today, lots of errands and absolutely berluddy freezing! I nearly cried riding my bike to Seren's nursery today. My fingers were like ice! So lots of cups of tea were consumed (after my run....which was good but hard!). I wanted something quick, easy and comforting tonight. So I found this in one of my vegetarian cookbooks. Aubergine (Eggplant) Cake. Its savoury don't worry! Inside is a pasta feast! You can put any pasta and sauce in here but I wanted Tuna Pasta as its one of my faves!!!

Aubergine Tuna Pasta Bake (Cake)

203 Calories per serving!!

Ingredients
1 Aubergine
50g of Dry Pasta Per Person (I used wholewheat)
1x tin of tuna (preferably in brine or spring water to keep cals down)
1 x tin of tomatoes
One onion diced
2 garlic cloves crushed
1 celery stick diced finely
1 carrot grated finely
2 tsps mixed herbs
1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 x dessertspoon of grated Parmesan

Method
- cut the aubergine into long strips and place in a saucepan. Place boiling water on top and cook on the hob for around 5 minutes. Then take off the heat, drain and pat dry with paper towels.
- Grease a cake tin with a little bit of olive oil. Line the bottom of the cake tin with the Aubergine slices so that they are layered and there are no gaps.
- Preheat oven to 180degrees
- Boil the pasta according to the packet instructions. Usually around 15-20 minutes
- In the meantime, add the olive oil; garlic, onion, celery and carrot and cook on the hob for around 5 minutes until softened.
- At this point add the tomatoes and mixed herbs. Simmer for around 10 minutes until the mixture is no longer 'watery'. When that happens stir in the tuna.
- Your pasta should now be cooked. Drain and add to the pasta sauce. Stir to ensure that everything is combined thoroughly and then place on top of your aubergine layers in your cake tin. Compress it so the top is flat, sprinkle a bit more parmesan or cheddar on and then place in the oven
- Cook for around 20 minutes and then take out. Place a plate on top of the cake tin and then using a cloth or tea towel turn it 'upside down' so that the plate is on the bottom and the tin is on top. Carefully take off the cake tin and you should be left with a lovely compressed pasta 'cake'
I served this with salad and garlic bread and a sprinkling of Parmesan on top of the pasta. Yums.

For my Homemade Garlic Bread I melted a tbsp of butter with two crushed garlic cloves (I like garlic....can you tell?). I then used Warburtons Sandwich thins. These things are great, they are only 100 calories each and they split in two. So I split them and then brushed on the butter garlic mixture and placed in the oven for a few minutes until they were crispy. Absolutely delicious and less than 100 calories per slice!! (84 to be precise!)

Enjoy!