Aubergine parmigiana
Aubergine parmigiana
I think aubergine parmigiana (or parmigiana di melanzane) is one of the most comforting Italian dishes. It’s made with layers of fried aubergine, tomato sauce, and cheese, following a similar process to how you make lasagne. In fact, Nicolò often gets confused between lasagne and parmigiana di melanzane. Is he even Italian?!
I don’t have much to say about this dish, other than that it’s delicious and you should definitely make it. There are many variants to how people make aubergine parmigiana (to fry the aubergine or not, to cover the aubergine in breadcrumbs or not), but I personally prefer fried aubergine, no breadcrumbs. Make this dish the next time you feel like some good old comfort food!
Serves 4
Ingredients
3 medium aubergines
3 tbsp flour
Vegetable oil
400ml tomato passata/puree (or a can of chopped tomatoes)
1 clove garlic, peeled
Fresh basil
1 ball fresh mozzarella, about 125g
1 cup parmesan, grated
Salt and pepper
Method
First, slice the aubergines lengthways into about ½ cm slices. Place the flour on a plate and season with salt and pepper. Coat both sides of the aubergine slices with the flour mixture, shaking off any excess.
Heat the vegetable oil in a large frying pan or wok. Use enough oil so that the aubergine slices will be just submerged. Fry the aubergine slices in batches, letting them brown on both sides (about 5 minutes per batch). Once the aubergine slices are golden brown, transfer them to a plate lined with a paper towel so that the excess oil is absorbed.
Meanwhile, make the sauce by placing the tomato passata/puree in a small saucepan with the clove of garlic, a small handful of fresh basil and a pinch of salt. Cook gently for about 10 minutes until it thickens, then discard the garlic and basil.
Preheat the oven to 180°C. To assemble, spread a few tablespoons of the tomato sauce on the bottom of a baking dish (about 20cm in diameter). Arrange a layer of the fried aubergine, followed by a generous amount of grated parmesan, some torn mozzarella and fresh basil leaves. Spread the tomato sauce on top and keep making layers until you run out of ingredients (you should get about 3 or 4 layers). Save extra cheese for the final layer.
Bake in the oven for about 35 minutes, until the cheese has melted and the top is golden brown.
