Friday 19 August 2011

Eggplant Parmigiana


Two words, mmm and mmm.  I know it's an Italian classic, but I have never made it...until now.  My husband took one bite of this, looked at me with a certain look and I just knew it was a winner.  

 It's super easy to make, you just need to allow a little time to prepare the eggplant.  It's simple and melt in the mouth delicious.


What you need:
1.5 kg eggplants
plain flour seasoned with salt and pepper
350ml olive oil
500ml tomato pasta sauce
2 tablespoons roughly torn basil leaves
250g mozzarella cheese
90g grated Parmesan cheese


What to do:
1.Thinly slice the eggplant lengthways.  Layer the slices in a large colander, sprinkling salt between each layer. Leave for an hour.
2.Rinse and pat the slices dry on both sides with paper towel, then coat lightly with the flour.
3.Preheat oven to 190C and grease a shallow baking dish.
4.Heat 125ml of  the olive oil in a large frying pan.  Quickly fry the eggplant slices in batches over high heat until crisp and golden on both sides. Add more olive oil as needed and drain on paper towels as you remove each batch from the pan.
5.Make a slightly overlapping layer of eggplant slices over the base of the dish.  Season with pepper and a little salt. 
6.Spoon 4 tablespoons of pasta sauce over the eggplant and scatter some of the basil over the top. 
7.Sprinkle with some mozzarella, followed by some parmesan.
8.Continue layering until you have used up all the ingredients, finishing with a layer of the cheeses.
9.Bake for 30 minutes.  Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 30 minutes before serving.

Go on, try it this weekend, you will be very happy you did!
Adapted from "Home Food".

xSam


1 comment:

Billy Angel said...

This looks so delicious Sam. I'm going to have to try this.