Melanzane alla Parmigiana
Preparation time
75 minutes
Servings:
4
Level:
Gemiddeld
2. Primi
Menu course
A cozy dinner evening with friends. Always fun, but it can also cause quite a bit of stress deciding what to put on the table. Especially if you have to take various dietary requirements into account. Melanzane alla parmigiana is the perfect solution for this, provided you have enough time. A delicious dish for everyone, but it does require some preparation.
For our friends' dinner, I made two variations. One with vegan cheese and one vegetarian version. We drank a Barbera d'Asti with it. Thanks to its soft tannins, it pairs perfectly with a pasta dish that is actually quite heavy.
Cuciniamo!
Ingredients
Half an onion
2 jars of passata (without basil!)
Basil
3 eggplants
Flour
1 large mozzarella
1 sachet of Parmigiano Reggiano
Olive oil
Sunflower oil
Salt
If you want the vegan version, I used Violife Greek white block.
Preparation
It is best to slice the eggplant a day in advance and let it dry. This can also be done in the morning, but do not start too late. Slice the eggplant into thin slices (long side) and place them on a plate. Place a paper towel between each row and put a heavy plate on top at the end. Put it in the refrigerator and leave it there for as long as possible.
As soon as the eggplants are thoroughly dried, we'll move on to the rest!
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 230 degrees.
The tomato sauce might look familiar to you. This is the same recipe as the one I used for the pasta pomodoro non classica.
Cut the onion into very small pieces so that it melts well into the sauce. Heat olive oil in a pan and add the onion and basil leaves. When the onion starts to become translucent, add the passata and a pinch of salt. Let this simmer for a while with the lid on the pan. As soon as it starts to thicken slightly, add some water. Let it simmer again for a short while with the lid on the pan. After a few minutes, remove the lid and let it continue simmering without the lid. The longer you let the sauce simmer, the better.
While the tomato sauce is simmering, we are going to deep-fry the eggplants. Fill a large pan with sunflower oil and ensure the oil gets hot. Sprinkle flour on a plate and dip both sides of the eggplant slices into the flour. Place them in the hot oil and turn them over halfway through. As soon as the eggplants start to turn yellow/brown, remove them from the oil. Again, place them on a paper towel and place another paper towel between each row. This absorbs the oil, preventing it from becoming a greasy mess.
Now we move on to 'building' the Melanzane. Spread a generous layer of tomato sauce over the baking dish and press a row of aubergines into it. Tear small pieces of mozzarella and distribute them over the aubergines. Finally, sprinkle the Parmigiano Reggiano over the top. Repeat this process until you run out of ingredients.
For the vegan version, you do exactly the same thing, only you crumble the vegan cheese over the eggplant instead of the Mozzarella and Parmigiano.
Put this in the oven for about 10 to 15 minutes. The dish is ready as soon as the cheese has melted and the mozzarella starts to get a slightly browned edge.
Let this rest for a while before dividing it among the plates. Finish with some more Parmigiano Reggiano.
I'd love to hear if you succeeded, buon appetito!