Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

• Olive oil for shallow frying
• 700 g middle sized courgettes, cut into 5mm thick slices lengthways
• 400 g Taleggio cheese, cubed
• 100 g Parmesan, freshly grated
• Salt and pepper

Tomato sauce:

• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely sliced
• 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 800 can canned chopped tomatoes
• 10 basil leaves

Batter:

• 100 g plain flower
• 4 eggs, beaten
• freshly ground nutmeg

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 200 C
• Make the tomato sauce by frying the garlic in the olive oil in a pan until soft, about 5 minutes
• Add the tomatoes and basil, some salt and pepper to taste and cook gently for 20-30 minutes
• To make the batter, put the flour in a bowl, make a well in the centre and pour in the beaten eggs. Season with a little nutmeg and some salt and pepper, and mix well to a thick batter
• In a frying pan, gently heat a little olive oil. Dip the courgettes slice into the batter, and fry in batches in the hot oil until golden, about 3-4 minutes per side. Drain on kitchen paper and set aside
• Now assemble the dish. Put a layer of courgettes slices on the base of a baking dish. Pour over the tomato sauce, and some of the cheeses and then get on with the next layer. Finish with the sauce and Parmesan
• Bake for 30 minutes in the preheated oven. Leave to cool before cutting into portions.

Recipe by Antonio Carluccio and photo by Alistair Hendy