Baked eggplant with rump steaks

Ingredients for 2 servings:

• 2 steaks (rump steaks)
• 1 eggplant(s)
• 200 ml tomatoes, pureed
• 50 g Parmesan
• 8 sprigs of oregano
• 1 sprig of basil
• 4 tbsp olive oil
• some Szechuan pepper
• some chili flakes
• some sugar
• some salt

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 3 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 40 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour 13 minutes

Wash the sirloin steaks, pat dry, and season with a little salt. Remove the rind from the Parmesan and then finely grate it. Wash the eggplant, cut into 1 cm thick slices, brush both sides with 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and season lightly with salt. Wash the oregano, spin dry, and finely chop. Wash the basil, spin dry, and chop very roughly. Preheat the oven to 220°C (top/bottom heat). Place the eggplant slices on a baking tray and bake in the hot oven on the middle rack for about 15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat the passata in a small saucepan and season with a little salt, a pinch of sugar, the chopped oregano, chili flakes, and some Sichuan pepper. Remove the eggplant slices from the oven, spread with the tomato sauce, and sprinkle with Parmesan. Then bake in the oven for another 15 minutes. Fry the steaks in a pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil for about 3 minutes on each side. Let the cooked steaks rest on a separate plate for 3 minutes. Arrange the eggplant slices on plates. Spread the remaining tomato sauce over the eggplants and sprinkle with basil. Arrange the steaks next to each other and grind some Szechuan peppercorns over them. Serve immediately while hot.