I have a friend who is passionate about aubergines. Not only does he love eating them, but he collects aubergine art, ceramic and glass aubergines, paintings and curios. I thought of my friend the other day, when I couldn’t resist a bumper bargain of various-sized aubergines from my localstreet market.

I particularly like the buttery texture of roast aubergine and its creamy, almost nutty, taste. It is then receptive to all sorts of flavours and textures, from feta and mozzarella to garlicky or herby vinaigrettes and lamb, chicken and beef. Roast slices are particularly good in a slippery pile-up with red peppers and courgettes.

Aubergine isn’t usually matched with seafood, but when roasted and then dressed with a fiery, sweet-sour Asian vinaigrette with coriander and mint, it is the perfect wake-up with tuna.

For this combination of textures and flavours, the tuna needs minimal cooking – just seared on the outside, leaving the inside moist, juicy and pale. I grilled a couple of the bigger aubergines, pierced first to avoid bursting, leaving them until the skin was scorched hard and sagging but the flesh inside was meltingly tender. Given a whiz in the blender with garlic, cumin, lemon juice and olive oil, the soft flesh needs only to be pulsed briefly to make a creamy aubergine dip with the consistency of silky hoummos.

This recipe answers to various names in the Arab world, but I usually call it moutabal. I often add a dollop of Greek yoghurt to soften the flavours, and tahini to give it a nutty back-taste. I never tire of moutabal with toasted pitta bread or as part of a mezze, but love it best with grilled lamb chops, a slick of olive oil and a big wedge of lemon to squeeze over the top.

Antonio Carluccio once told me that if you’re in a hurry, a good way to limit aubergines’ ability to absorb oil like a sponge is to dust them with flour before frying. This tip was woven into an otherwise inexplicit beef and aubergine layer bake flavoured with red wine and a vast amount of tomato purée, which was sent to me recently by my sister-in-law. She wanted help to make it work for an impending dinner party at their home in Spain.

I divided the cooking into three parts, coordinating preparing the aubergine with making the meat sauce and creamy topping, thus speeding up the recipe and cutting down the amount of oil in the dish. Usefully, like moussaka, which it resembles, each part could be done in advance and the dish assembled cold before the final cooking.

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