Eggplant Parmesan

Eggplants are vegetables typical of Sicily that you can use to prepare different Italian recipes, Eggplant Parmesan is one of these that you can cook in many way. The following recipe is made with sauce, Parmesan and mozzarella. The use of mozzarella to cook Eggplant Parmesan is typical of Campania, a region in the southern part of Italy; instead in Emilia Romagna Eggplant Parmesan is prepared only with sauce and Parmesan. Furthermore in this recipe the slices of eggplant are fried but if you prefer you can also roasted them and then continue like it is explained here. This is a simple and good second course, believe me!

INGREDIENTS (for 6 people)

5 Eggplants

600 g of Tomato puree

5 Leafs of basil

1 / 2 of Onion

200 g of Flour

3 Eggs

200 g of Parmesan

Salt

Pepper

3 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil for the sauce

Extra virgin olive oil to fry

300 g of Mozzarella cut into slices

PREPARATION TIME: 1 hours

COOKING TIME: 40 – 50 minutes

WINE: Alcamo DOC (White Wine)

PREPARATION

Wash and dry the eggplants, peel them and cut into slices 1 cm thick lengthwise. Sprinkle the slices of eggplants with salt and place them in a dish to drain for about 30 minutes.

In the meantime you can start to prepare the sauce: in a pan heat 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, add the chopped onion and let it brown. Then add the tomato puree, the leafs of basil, some salt and pepper and let simmer for about 30 – 35 minutes.

Squeeze the slices of eggplants and flour them.

In a dish prepare the beaten eggs with the Parmesan, the salt and the pepper and dip each side of the slices of eggplants in it.

Heat extra virgin olive oil in a pan and fry the eggplants until they golden brown on the both sides, then drain on a kitchen paper.

In a baking pan spread some sauce in the bottom, then make a layer with the fried eggplants, another with the slices of mozzarella, sprinkle with the Parmesan and cover with the sauce. Continue in this way until the baking pan is full. When the baking pan is full sprinkle with Parmesan.

Preheat the oven to 180 – 200 °C and bake for about 30 – 40 minutes or until the surface of the eggplants become golden. This is the result:

BUON APPETITO!