Eggplant Parmigiana or Parmesan

This is super comfort food, and trust me made like this it is NOT fattening at all! See the recipe right away!

Yum

There are friends… and then, if you are lucky enough, there are friends who last a lifetime. Those who enter your soul they understand it and never leave it.

I’ve met Huda long long time ago, in an another life. We were close friends, then she moved back home and we lost contact … Many years later I was looking for her on Facebook with no success, she was the one to find me, last year same period, and we started just from where we have left. It is not easy for us to meet, we live too far apart, we keep contact through the usual media so when yesterday she wrote asking for this recipe after seeing the picture on the internet I had to do it overcomeing my blogging laziness and put it up for her.

Eggplant Parmigiana or Parmesan

 

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Prep time

20 mins

Cook time

1 hour

Total time

1 hour 20 mins

 

Author: Valentina Giorcelli

Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 2 round eggplants
• 500 g mozzarella cheese
• 80 g grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 cloves
• 800 g crushed canned tomatoes
• dried oregano
• salt
• pepper
• frying oil
• flour
• extravergin olive oil
• butter

Instructions

1. Put the tomato, the garlic, the extravergin olive oil and some oregano (1 teaspoon, more if you like it), salt in a pot and let simmer for about half an hour, till thickened..
2. Cut the eggplants into 1 cm thick slices, here I like to remove some skin with a potato peeler.
3. Now you have two choices: (1) flour the slices, fry them in frying oil and pat them dry while the sauces thickens or, (2) heat the oven to the maximum heat, put the slices in a tray, lightly salt them, drizzle with some extravergin olive oil and let them cook in the oven. Both ways are fine, the second choice, might give in a bit on the flavour (some people say), but you’ll gain in calories and is much quicker.
4. In the meanwhile you can slice the mozzarella cheese into small cubes (about half a centimeter)
5. Once both the eggplants and the sauce is cooked, you are ready to assemble the parmigiana
6. Get a baking pan, lightly oil it, put some sauce at the bottom, then start by alternating a layer of eggplant, some sauce, a little oregano, some mozzarella and the eggplants.
7. Finish last layer with a generous dust of Parmesan cheese
8. Place in the oven at 180 degrees C for about 20-30 minutes.

Notes

For a healthier and much quicker version: turn on the oven max temperature and if you have it, turn on the fan in the oven as well. Slice the eggplants, then with a small knife lightly criss-cross the slices on both sides an put them in a pan or a cookie sheet in one layer, season them with salt and olive oil and cook them in a hot oven for about 10/15 mins (it depends on the thickness of the slices, the ripeness and the oven). Once cooked, proceed with the layering as above.
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We say Parmigiana (meaning from the city of Parma where the dish probably originated in 1731) not Parmesan (Parmigiano the cheese) . [Read here for more info (in Italian)

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