Step 1

Preheat the oven to 400 F/ 200 C/ gas mark 6. Place the eggplant on a baking tray and bake for 35 minutes. Remove from the oven, cut off the end and chop the eggplant into chunks (do not remove the skin). Keep the oven on.

Step 2

About 25 minutes into baking the eggplant start preparing the other ingredients.

Step 3

In a saucepan heat up 2 tablespoons of the oil, add the bay leaf, garlic, onion, chilli and celery, stir and cook over a medium heat for 3 minutes, stirring often.

Step 4

Add the wine and continue cooking for 2 more minutes. Add the chopped eggplant, tomato, tomato paste, sun-dried tomatoes, salt, stir, cover and bring to the boil then simmer for 10 minutes.

Step 5

Remove the bay leaf and partly blitz the sauce so that it has a chunky (not completely pureed), consistency (I used a stick blender to do this). Combine with the beans (use the entire contents of the can, including the water), stir, season to taste and transfer into your baking dish. Drizzle with a little oil and bake for 15 minutes in a preheated oven at 200 C. Enjoy!