I've had a lifelong interest in bananas, the foremost comedy fruit with a notoriously slippery skin. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the pastry has risen up around the aubergine and is golden.Slice the mozzarella into 1cm slices and place one on top of each aubergine Season and return to the oven for 3-4 minutes Drizzle with olive oil, add garnish and serve.. Remove from the pan and drain them on kitchen paper.Pre-heat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Cut the puff pastry into circles about 2cm larger than the aubergine slices and place on to a baking tray.Mix the pesto (I gave the recipe for this a few weeks ago) with the chopped tomatoes and spread in the centre of the pastry, about 3cm from the edge, then place the slice of cooked aubergine on top and season.Score the pastry around the aubergine once you have placed it on the pesto mix.

If you can't find them then just use any large fat aubergines. A good quality light and buttery puff pastry really makes the difference to a tart like this. Season the cutlets, lightly oil them and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side keeping them pink. Cook the sausages thoroughly.Cook the sweetbreads and kidney for about a minute and a half to 2 minutes and the seasoned liver for just 30 seconds on each side.Spoon the hot caponata on to the centre of warmed plates and arrange the lamb on top.. 350-400g good quality puff pastry, rolled to about 1/2cm 4 slices of aubergine about 2cm thick 1-2tbsp olive oil Salt and freshly ground black pepper 2tbsp pesto 5-6 pieces of semi-dried tomatoes, chopped 150g good quality mozzarella A few basil leaves to decorate Heat some of the olive oil in a heavy frying pan and cook all the aubergine slices for a couple of minutes on each side until lightly coloured.

Those lovely pale-skinned Italian aubergines have an interesting, irregular shape and are nice and thick around the middle - perfect for this simple-to-make tart. Skewer a piece of sweetbread and half a kidney on to a stick of rosemary and season. Add to the tomato mixture and simmer for another 5 minutes.Add the aubergines and celery to the sauce and continue to simmer for 20 minutes.Pre-heat a ribbed griddle plate, thick-bottomed frying pan or barbecue. Add the tomatoes, season and simmer for 15 minutes.Meanwhile heat the sugar and vinegar in a saucepan, add the chocolate, capers and olives and heat the mixture, stirring until the chocolate has melted.

Fry the celery pieces in the oil left in the pan, or a little more if necessary, and dry on kitchen paper.Gently cook the onion in the olive oil in a thick-bottomed saucepan for 2-3 minutes, until soft. You can eat it hot or cold as a starter, a salad or part of a meze with flat bread. Here it's served hot. 4 lamb cutlets or chops 4 slices of lamb's liver weighing about 40-50g each, trimmed of any sinew 2 lamb's kidneys, halved and sinew removed 4 plumb lamb's sweetbreads or 8 smaller ones 4 sprigs of rosemary about 6cm long 4 small lamb sausages or 100g minced lambfor the caponata2 medium aubergines, cut into rough 1cm cubes Vegetable oil for frying 4-5 sticks of celery, any stringy stalks peeled, cut into rough 1cm pieces 4-5tbsp olive oil 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped 1 x 225g can of chopped tomatoes Salt and freshly ground black pepper 1tbsp caster sugar 75ml white wine vinegar 1tbsp grated dark chocolate, minimum 70 per cent cocoa solids 40g salted capers, rinsed in cold water 12 large green olives, stoned and quarteredHeat some vegetable oil in a frying pan until very hot and cook the aubergines in a couple of batches, stirring every so often, until they are golden then remove with a slotted spoon and dry on kitchen paper. Lamb sausages are not so difficult to find in butcher's shops and farmers' markets, or you could simply spice up some minced lamb with salt and pepper, cumin and mint and/or oregano. Caponata, with its sweet and sour flavours, is perfectly suited to grilled or roasted lamb. This is a great time of year to buy and eat all sorts of cuts of lamb, including offal.