Eggplant and Haloumi Stack with Garlic and Thyme Sauce

This really turned out well. It was a marvelous throw-together of things we had in the fridge, and it all sat together nicely. Serves two.

You'll need;

1 eggplant, sliced
250g haloumi
4 large mushrooms
100ml cream
a few sprigs of thyme
1 crushed garlic clove
1 teaspoon butter
olive oil

First, salt your eggplant slices and leave to sit for a while to leach out the bitterness. Pre-warm your oven to about 150C. Put a couple of glugs of olive oil into a wide pan and fry your eggplant till mostly done. Place the eggplant onto an oven tray and put into the oven to keep warm.

Next, put your thinly sliced haloumi into the pan and cook until golden. Take the eggplant out of the oven and arrange them with the haloumi into 2 stacks of alternate layers, while cooking the mushrooms.

When the mushrooms are almost done, put them onto the stack of eggplant and haloumi and return them to the oven.

Put your butter and a glug of olive oil into the pan, let it foam. Add the garlic and thyme, cook for a few seconds to let it flavor the oil then add the cream. Let this simmer for a moment while you take the eggplant from the oven and arrange them on plates. DO NOT be tempted to season the sauce - the haloumi is really salty and any more will have you drinking water (or equivalent) all night.

Pour the sauce over the stack and serve.