Slice the aubergines quite thickly, about 1 - 1½ cm, crosswise or lengthwise – it doesn’t really matter – I cut mine lengthwise for this recipe. Sprinkle some coarse sea salt on each layer and put the aubergines back together again. That way, the salt will be in contact with both sides of the slices of aubergine – top and bottom. Leave to stand for an hour.

After an hour, rinse the aubergines under running water to get rid of the surplus salt. If you don’t, your aubergines will be very salty. Once rinsed, dry the aubergines between layers of kitchen paper or cloths. Press down to dry them well.

Preheat the oven to 250 °C.

Put the aubergine slices on a sheet of baking paper or aluminium foil and brush some oil on both sides of the slices.

Place them on a solid tray on the top shelf of the oven and grill/roast for 10 - 15 minutes until the aubergine slices are golden. You’ll need to do them in batches. When done, remove from the oven and set aside. While you are roasting the aubergines, you can make the tomato sauce.

Prepare the tomato sauce. Crush the clove of garlic with the heel of your hand or a flat object. Put a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil in a pan and turn the heat on low. Add the clove of garlic and sweat gently without colour on the lowest possible heat for 5 minutes until the garlic has softened a little and is just starting to brown. Add the tomato pulp and season. Go easy on the salt because the aubergines will be quite salty. Cook on a low heat for about 30 minutes without a lid. The idea is to evaporate some of the water (reduce by about a quarter so that you are left with approximately 600 g and the tomato sauce is thicker than pasta sauce.

Make the béchamel sauce. For detailed, step-by.step instructions with photos, see my post on How to make perfect vegan béchamel sauce.Put the olive oil and flour in a pan (preferably with a rounded bottom). Don't turn on the heat. Mix the flour and oil together with a hand whisk to make a roux (thick paste). Add the cold almond and soya milk. Amalgamate the roux and the milk together with the hand whisk until there are no lumps left. Do this without turning on the heat. Make incisions in the onion by sticking a knife into it. Be careful not to break it up; it should stay whole. Making incisions will allow the onion to delicately flavour the béchamel sauce. Stud the onion with the cloves. Add the onion, sugar, salt, white pepper, and nutmeg to the milk. Turn on the heat to medium. Stir constantly with the whisk while the sauce thickens. Once it starts to boil, turn off the heat. Add the nutritional yeast flakes and stir until they have dissolved. Remove the onion and the cloves.

Now, it’s time to assemble the parmigiana.Put a thin layer of tomato sauce in the bottom of an oven dish.Lay slices of aubergine on top of the tomato sauce in a single layer.Spoon a little tomato sauce (about a level tablespoonful) onto each slice of aubergine and spread it out with the back of the spoon.Spoon a little of the thick béchamel sauce (about a teaspoonful) onto each slice of aubergine, forming little mounds similar to what melted mozzarella would look like. Don’t spread it out.Finish the layer by putting a couple of fresh basil leaves on each slice of aubergine and sprinkling vegan parmesan cheese over it. It's best to use a sieve for that.Repeat the layers of aubergines, tomato sauce, béchamel, basil and parmesan cheese until all the aubergines are used up. I made 4 layers. Leave the best-looking slices for the top layer.The final layer should be tomato sauce only, without béchamel sauce and basil. Make sure all the pieces of aubergine are lightly coated in tomato sauce. This will prevent your aubergine parmigiana from drying out on top when it's in the oven.

Place the aubergine parmigiana in the centre of the oven (on a rack, not a solid tray), and bake uncovered at 220 ºC for 20 minutes or until bubbling and just starting to brown on top. When done, remove from the oven and leave to stand for 5 – 10 minutes before serving. See notes below.

Serve your vegan aubergine parmigiana. Buon appetito!