Elly Pear's Let's Eat: Simple, delicious food for everyone, every day

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Which variety? Try classic globe aubergine here – the longer the better – so you can fit more in your griddle pan (although you will still need to cook in batches).

Add the carrot, smoked paprika and button mushrooms. Turn the heat down to low and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Waitrose

This recipe was developed by Vivek Singh as part of his 20th anniversary celebration meal – and it’s a marvel. The sweet peanuts compliment the bitter savouriness of the aubergines perfectly and the tamarind paste adds delightful sourness. It’s a wonderful side dish or a vegan main and it’s something you may not have tried before. Elly is passionate about Bristol and supporting the independent businesses and friends that have supported her and that have become regulars both as suppliers and customers at The Pear Cafe. She will continue to live in Bristol and split her time between there and London for work and play. Remove the dish or tin from the oven, stir in the grated lemon zest and leave to cool for 15 minutes. Adjust the seasoning.

The quintessential baked aubergine dish would have to be a melanzane parmigiana – and who can resist the moreish combination of silky fried aubergines layered up with a killer tomato sauce and parmesan? This recipe uses a béchamel on top, but if you prefer a less heavy version, try our lighter parmigiana which uses mozzarella for ooziness. Or go even bigger and opt for our aubergine parmigiana sandwich. Elly has contributed to a wide range of publications both online and in print, including Waitrose Food, Olive Magazine, Stella Magazine, Sunday Times Magazine, Delicious, Sainsbury’s Magazine, Good Housekeeping, Root and Bone and The Pool and was the food columnist for Instyle Magazine for over a year. She has also contributed recipes to both Cook For Syria charity books and produced two e-books, Let’s Eat: Elly Pear’s Home Fridge Deli and Elly Pear’s Fast Days and Feast Days: Tips and recipes to reset your diet for the New Year. Restaurant collaboration events include Silo in Brighton (winner of Britain’s Most Innovative Restaurant and OFM’s Most Ethical Restaurant) and Salon in Brixton and pop ups in various locations including Borough Market and Skip Garden in London and a recent dhal pop up at Corner 77 in Bristol. Pour the olive oil into a large ovenproof dish or roasting tray and heat in the oven for 5–10 minutes. Carefully add the aubergine cubes to the hot oil. Season well with salt and pepper, add the diluted rose harissa and toss everything together. Place the dish or tray in the hot oven, setting the timer for 15 minutes. When the timer sounds and 15 minutes has passed, stir to make sure all sides of the aubergine cubes are roasting. Set the timer again for another 15 minutes. Elly Pear turns a handful of store cupboard ingredients into a spicy, gooey vegetarian traybake. Make sure to toast plenty of pitta breads, too, for dunking into this fabulous roasted mish-mash.In South Asia, you’ll find both longer thinner aubergines alongside mini ‘baby aubergines’ which are often stuffed in Indian cooking. In Thailand, aubergines can be even tinier still – you can find these in many Asian supermarkets – what’s more, they resemble mini watermelons, what’s not to love? In a nutshell then, we are talking about 5 main types of aubergine: classic globe aubergines (purple, striped and white), fat round aubergines, long thing aubergines, baby aubergines, and Thai aubergines. What different ways can aubergine be cooked? Scatter the radishes over the frittata, distributing them evenly. Place the pan under the grill (making sure the handle is not under the grill if it is plastic) and heat for 3-5 minutes until golden.

After 12.5years, I’ve decided to close The Pear Cafe. It’s all good, not closing for any bad reason (in fact trade is particularly brisk!), it’s just the right thing for me at this point in my life. New chapters and all that jazz. More exciting news soon but that’s it for now. Tuesday 25th will be our last day of trading. Thank you all for the ride. I’ve enjoyed unbelievable support for 150 months of trading and I’m forever grateful. Thank you, thank you, thank you Elly xxx” Many people are put off cooking aubergine as the salting process can seem too much like hard work. The good news is, most mass produced aubergines available in the UK have had the bitterness bred out of them, so the salting becomes null and void. If you’re using heirloom or organic varieties, the general rule is if they are very seedy inside, they may benefit from a bit of salting to tease out any bitterness (taste first) but adding salt after cooking can also provide a counter to this – so don’t sweat it. What do you get if you combine an aubergine parmigiana with everyone’s favourite Calabrian hot and spicy sausage paste? This aubergine al forno with ‘nduja! It’s clever: the milky mozzarella cools the hot and intense sausage beautifully.If you’re new to cooking with aubergine, this is one of the easiest recipes to start-out on. Criss-crossing, then roasting aubergines provides an incredible vehicle for flavour, and the aromatic paste spread on top gently melts into the silky flesh as it cooks. Served with a simple combo of lentils and shallots, this is a dish this is a healthy and easy weeknight meal. What I thought: Making this recipe didn’t exactly get off to an auspicious start – I couldn’t find cavolo nero, or more bizarrely, linguine, so I substituted spaghetti and spinach in their place. Shopping drama aside, this was the perfect thing to whip up for a casual weeknight dinner at home with a guest – when you want something nice but don’t really have the time or energy to spend on anything complicated. It was so delightfully faff-free – yet delicious – that I’ll definitely be making it again (maybe with linguine and cavolo nero next time?). She is a judge on numerous panels in 2018, including Veggie Magazine Awards, Great British Food Awards (alongside Raymond Blanc, Michael Roux, Nathan Outlaw, Mark Hix, Rosemary Shrager, Dan Doherty and more) and a head judge for the highly regarded Great Taste Awards. The Guardian vegetarian food expert Anna Jones is a fan, saying: “Green is full of smart, stand-out, delicious vegetarian recipes. I love this book”.