Baked vegetable ‘pasticcio’.

Inverted commas? Yes: the definition is unclear. Pasticcio literally translated is a mess, although the Italians use it as the name of a dish in which ingredients are combined and baked. A combination of vegetables - as the following recipe is - separated by pasta sheets would be what we call a lasagne. But because the word lasagne refers specifically to the pasta sheets, the dish is a mess, just like this paragraph.

Starting from the bottom I placed onion rings in the base of the casserole with a scored clove of garlic and a splash of olive oil. (Some recipes fry the onions first but this worked fine.) Then I added layers of very finely sliced potato; not so finely sliced pumpkin; pre-salted, rinsed and grilled sliced eggplant; sliced red capsicum; and sliced zucchini.

I interspersed each of these with enough basil-infused tomato purée to coat the layers. When three-quarters up to the top of the dish, I tipped in half a cup of chicken stock to keep it all moist and flavoursome, and a little extra tomato puree. I sprinkled some mixed herbs over that, and finished it with a generous layer of three-cheese mix (mozzarella, parmesan, cheddar).

With the lid on the casserole and in a moderate oven, it was ready and sending out herby, come-hither aromas within an hour. Lid off, the cheese was bubbling and browned.

*... sock a little ... to me ... you know I need me a mess of it ...