Parmigiana Di Melanzane

Parmigiana di melanzane or eggplant parmesan, are a delicious Italian recipe that comes from the Italian Tuscany region. Typically popular for pasta, Italian cuisine is rich in a wide variety of preparations, including outstanding Mediterranean dishes.

Despite being a well-known and used vegetable for more than 2000 years, it is not until its incorporation and popularization in Italian and Greek cuisine that aubergine opens up the space in our kitchen that it currently has, especially when it comes to of preparing healthy foods with a high nutritional content.

Ingredients

• 1.5 kl of aubergines.
• 150 g of Parmesan cheese.
• 1400 ml of tomato juice (to make the sauce).
• 1 onion.
• Olive oil.
• Fresh basil
• Refined salt.
• Coarse salt.
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 300 g of mozzarella cheese.

Preparation

This recipe requires a previous preparation of the aubergines, which will take about an hour. So you should start by doing this:

Preparation of the aubergines:

• Wash the aubergines very well, preferably with a little warm water.
• Cut them into 1 centimeter thick slices lengthwise and put them over a large colander. Arrange them in layers and sprinkle each layer with coarse salt.
• Let them sit for an hour, this way they will expel a good amount of liquid.
• After that time wash them well with cold water and dry them with a kitchen napkin.
• Heat oil in a frying pan and fry the aubergines until golden brown, once ready remove them and let them drain the oil on a paper napkin.

Recipe preparation:

• Put 4 tablespoons of olive oil to heat in a saucepan, when it is hot, add the finely chopped onion and the garlic cut into thin slices, let it fry for a few minutes without turning brown.

• Add the tomato juice and let it cook until it becomes thick.
• Add the basil and a little salt with your fingers.
• Prepare a baking dish by coating it with oil and preheat the oven to 200 ° C.
• Pour some of the tomato sauce in the bottom and spread it with a spoon.
• Put a layer of aubergines next to each other without overlapping them.
• Add another little tomato sauce and spread it again.
• Top with a few slices of mozzarella cheese and a handful of grated Parmesan cheese.
• On the cheese,  make a second layer of aubergines in the opposite direction to the ones you initially put.
• Repeat the process of topping them again with tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and the handful of Parmesan cheese.
• Put the dish in the oven for 40 minutes. Remember to be aware at all times so that you do not get burned.
• Once ready, remove the tray from the oven and let it rest for a few minutes before serving. Remember that you can accompany this recipe with a good wine, bread or a tasty and colorful salad.

Additional tips

• Another way to prepare this recipe is by coating the aubergines in egg.
• The preliminary process is done with the aubergines to dehydrate them, so they will be less bitter when you incorporate them into the recipe.
• If you prefer, you can brown the grilled aubergines.
• One way to know when it’s done is when the cheese layer has completely browned and the sauce still has a golden appearance.
• Although the Neapolitan recipe is the most popular, you can make the parmigiana di melanzane with any type of sauce, in fact the white sauce gives it a balanced and delicious flavor.
• There is a lighter proposal for this recipe, in which the aubergine is not allowed to cool and the mozzarella cheese is omitted.

Eggplant is a very versatile vegetable. We can take advantage of it in a lot of preparations and cook it in many different ways. Here we have offered you a famous Italian recipe in which they use aubergine and we can enjoy all its flavor. Don’t wait any longer and start cooking.