When I’m making dinner for just Mark and I, I generally try to cut the recipe down to two or three servings. It usually works well. For this recipe, though, it didn’t work as well as planned.

The idea is that eggplant slices and a tomato mixture is layered into a cake pan to make a sort of vegetable cake. (Gateau is French for cake, by the way.) I halved the recipe without changing the cake pan size, so the ingredients were too spread out to actually make it cake-ish, but the flavor was fantastic. For the full recipe (and hopefully a more cake-like presentation), double the recipe below.

Eggplant Gateau
(from Gordon Ramsay Makes It Easy)
Serves 3

1 medium eggplant, thinly sliced
Olive oil to drizzle
2 T. butter
Quart of cherry tomoatoes (about 3/4 lb.)
1 clove of garlic, minced
Small handful of basil leaves
Salt and pepper
1 1/2 oz. parmesan, freshly grated

Heat the oven to 400F degrees. Thinly slice the eggplants and lay the slices out on a large, oiled baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and bake for 5-8 minutes, until softened and lightly browned.

Like an 8″ round cake pan with waxed paper. Melt the butter in a large saute pan and cook the cherry tomatoes with the garlic until soft and pulpy. Tear in the basil leaves and season with salt and pepper

Layer a third of the eggplant slices over the base of the prepared pan, top with half the tomato mixture, then sprinkle over some Parmesan. Add another layer of eggplant, then the remaining tomato mixture. Cover with a final layer of eggplant and sprinkle generously with parmesan.

Bake the gateau for 10 minutes until the topping is golden and bubbling. Let stand for 5 mintues, then turn out onto a warm plate.