Parmigiana di Melanzane

Fried aubergine layered with tomato and cheese, with no breadcrumbs and no flour.

Not vegetarian — contains mozzarella whose rennet the source does not name, parmesan whose rennet the source does not name.

Ingredients

• 1.3 kg aubergines, sliced 8 mm thick
• 800 g passata
• 1 onion, chopped
• 150 g parmesan, grated
• 300 g mozzarella, torn and drained overnight
• a large handful of basil
• 1 litre sunflower oil, for frying, which is poured off
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons salt

Method

1. Salt the aubergine slices in a colander for 45 minutes, then rinse and dry them thoroughly.
2. FRY THEM NAKED — no flour, no egg, no breadcrumbs. Those coatings absorb oil and turn the layers into a soggy batter once the sauce goes on. Dry slices straight into 180C oil, 2 minutes a side, drained on a rack.
3. Make the sauce with the olive oil, onion and passata, 30 minutes, until thick enough to sit on a spoon.
4. DRAIN THE MOZZARELLA OVERNIGHT, torn, in a sieve. Fresh mozzarella is mostly water and it all comes out in the oven, which is the single commonest reason this dish floods.
5. Layer: a little sauce, aubergine, sauce, parmesan, mozzarella, basil. Four layers, finishing with sauce and parmesan only.
6. Bake at 180C for 40 minutes until bubbling and browned at the edges.
7. REST IT 30 MINUTES BEFORE CUTTING, or an hour. It is better warm than hot and better still the next day, and straight from the oven it will not hold a slice.
8. Pour the frying oil off once cooled.

Our own recipe. This one was written for this site rather than taken from anywhere, so there is no source to point you at. The quantities and the order of the steps are choices, not the only way to do it.

Filed under Italy · All recipes