Eggplants parmigiana

How to prepare aubergines parmigiana.

What a show of flavors! The Italian eggplant recipe that I propose is one of my favorites. aubergines parmigiana or  parmigiana di melanzane .

You already know my passion for humble aubergines, but if you also add a mixture of cheese and tomato sauce, the result is spectacular, it almost surpasses another Italian recipe, the Italian caponata .

This recipe is very simple of Italian origin whose ingredients vary from one area to another.

The dish is officially recognized as Sicilian and Parmigiana is said to derive from the word Parmiciana, also in Sicilian, which refers to the slats that form a blind, an image that is reminiscent of the layers of ingredients that make up the Parmigiana di melanzane.

However, I have prepared a Neapolitan parmigiana that, unlike other places in Italy, has fresh mozzarella cheese, one of my favorites.

A perfect recipe to open spring , terraces and cookouts with friends. Color and flavor to share in good company.

Before starting the recipe. Eggplants

1. We wash the eggplants well, we remove the tail and cut into sheets with their skin.
2. To remove the bitterness a little, fill a large bowl with water with plenty of salt, about 3 tablespoons.
3. We leave the eggplants resting in this water for 15 minutes to remove the bitterness that the meat of the eggplant could have.
4. This vegetable has very healthy dietary properties, attributed to its antioxidant components, responsible for its slight bitter taste.

Assembly before baking the eggplants

1. We wash the eggplant slices and dry them well so that when they pass through the plate, the oil does not skip.
2. In a plate put a little oil and brown the eggplants. We reserve them on kitchen paper.
3. Cut the mozzarella cheese into slices and beat the two eggs. We reserve.
4. We preheat the oven with heat up and down to 180 ° C. In a baking dish spread butter on the base. Next we add the first layer of homemade tomato sauce .
5. Then we put a layer of aubergines and cover them with grated Parmesan cheese, slices of fresh mozzarella, a little chopped oregano.
6. If you like the taste of basil (some leaves on top) and we finish by impregnating with a little beaten egg.
7. We continue to layer in the same way. In the last layer we put eggplant, Parmesan cheese, mozzarella, tomato and we finish with a few strokes of beaten egg.

Baking and final presentation of the stuffed aubergines

1. We put just the oven plate from the bottom for 30 minutes at 190º C.
2. This way we can cook the interior well and evaporate the residual liquid a little. Since a little liquid forms between the tomato, the cheese whey and the eggplant water.
3. Then another 15 minutes with grill until the surface acquires a tone between golden and toasted.
4. We serve immediately. You can accompany it with some tomatoes with minced garlic and virgin olive oil or your favorite salad

An Italian dish very easy to make and in which the aubergines are tender and juicy, where with very few ingredients a perfect daily meal comes out. I hope you enjoy it as much as me!

You can see all the photos of the step by step in the next album.  

Tips for a delicious stuffed eggplant

• It is important that you prepare this dish the same day that you are going to eat it, so that the gratin is on point and fresh from the oven.
• If you can’t afford it for time, do them the night before. Heat the eggplants parmesan in the oven at low temperature and covered with silver foil, so that the dish does not dry out excessively.
• Also, if you make the tomato sauce yourself, there is no doubt that the dish will gain a lot in flavor and quality.
• The mozzarella to be able to be better that it is authentic of buffalo and not those substitutes that sell in some supermarkets.
• But we can also find this same recipe with grated cured sheep cheese or with fresh basil leaves that are added between the layers of the eggplants.
• If you are very cookers and you have ceramic pans suitable for the oven , enough to put one for each diner, you can use them and prepare this recipe in each of them.
• So you will surely surprise both for the presentation and for the flavors of this very special dish.