Aubergine - to peel or not to peel?
Normally I never peel aubergine but if you come across a large one that has seen better days the danger is they can be a bit bitter and that bitterness comes from the skin. Peeling it can make all the difference. For this sauce I like to really cook the aubergine down - and want them jammy and soft - almost like a baba ganoush. For baba ganoush you peel the aubergine after you’ve cooked it, and for this sauce we are just doing it the other way round. You don’t have to peel the aubergine - I don’t for and it’s delicious.

The water trick
Aubergine are little sponges and they will soak up all the oil you give them. You want to give them a little oil as it gives lovely flavour but too much and it’s going to be greasy. So I love adding water to help soften them after they’ve had a little fry. This is also a good trick to soften onions if you don’t want to use oil.

Balsamic
I love adding a touch of sweetness whenever I’m cooking with tomatoes and I most often will add a splash of balsamic as I love the subtle syrupy sweetness it brings to dishes but of course a pinch of sugar will work just as well.

Tomatoes
Tinned tomatoes would work well if you can’t find cherry tomatoes. I’m always in favour of using what you have, so no reason you can’t use tinned tomatoes, be they peeled plum, crushed, or passata. They will all work!

Instead of ricotta…
If you don’t want to use ricotta but still like the idea of a little something creamy, you could use burrata, or my cheat’s burrata, (torn mozzarella bathed in creme fraiche) or a little mascarpone.