To prepare the sauce, heat the olive oil in a large saucepan and gently fry the onion, celery and carrot until soft. Add the chopped tomatoes, season with salt and pepper and cook, uncovered, over a medium heat for about 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.

Meanwhile, cut the aubergines lengthways into slices about 1cm thick. Place in a sieve, sprinkle with sea salt and leave over the sink for about 1 hour to allow the excess water to drain from the aubergine. Place the slices on kitchen paper and pat dry.

Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Dip the aubergine slices in the eggs then dust with flour, and fry them in the hot oil until golden on both sides (you may need to work in batches). Transfer the slices on to kitchen paper to drain off any excess oil.

Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas mark 4. Place a layer of aubergines in the base of a large, deep, ovenproof dish. Spread about a fifth of the tomato sauce, then place some Mozzarella slices over the sauce. Sprinkle over a handful of Parmesan and some of the basil leaves. Repeat the process three times. Finally, spread the remaining tomato sauce on top and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan. Cover with kitchen foil and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and continue to bake for a further 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and leave to rest for about 10 minutes before serving generous portions.

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