Parmigiana.

Some of you may have looked at the title of this blog and thought, ‘oooh something covered in cheese. I wonder if it’s chicken or veal.’ In reality, Parmigiana specifically refers to eggplant layered with cheese and tomato, usually baked. Whenever you see Parmigiana on a menu and it is not eggplant you should technically see a surname, like chicken Parmigiana or veal Parmigiana. Likewise, when you go to those off the wall restaurants and they spell it Veal Parmesan, they are literally saying veal with Parmigiano-Reggiano, which if you don’t know what that is you need to go to a specialty market and find out. So enough yapping and on to the recipe.

This recipe has 3 parts to it. You fry, simmer and bake. The object is to have everything done efficiently, so if you fry your eggplant before you start the sauce, you’ll be waiting an hour and a half before baking. However, if you start the sauce and then fry your eggplant, you will cut down on waiting time now won’t you?

Yield: 4-5 Servings

The Sauce:
1 - 28oz Can Tutturosso Crushed Tomatoes
1 – medium onion, Finely Diced
2 – good sized garlic cloves, minced
Olive Oil
1 T of dried oregano
1 T of dried parsley
1 T of dried basil
1 t of crushed red pepper flake
2 bay leaves

Add some olive oil to a medium saucepan and warm on medium heat while you dice your onions. Add the onions and a pinch of salt to draw out moisture. You want to sweat these onions, meaning you don’t really want any color, and you want to cook them until they are just beginning to turn soft and translucent. At that point you can add your minced garlic . Let it cook for another few minutes and add your crushed red pepper. Give the pepper just enough time to release its oils before adding the crushed tomatoes and bay leaves. I like to let this simmer for about an hour before adding the oregano, parsley, and basil and cooking for about another 30-45 minutes. I like to cook my sauce until the sugars in the tomatoes are beginning to cook out and the sauce as more of an unctuous flavor as opposed to a sweet flavor. To me, when sauces are sweet I taste more of the bitterness in the seeds and pulp. In other words, cook it as long as you want.

Eggplant:
1 – Large Eggplant
Sheet pan with cooling rack
Breadcrumbs, seasoned (ours were homemade)
Egg
Flour
Blended Olive Oil (50/50 Olive and Canola)

While the sauce is simmering you can now start preparing your eggplant. Skin your eggplant and slice into long strips, about 5 mm thick. Place your eggplant on a drying rack and lightly salt both sides. This is going to draw out moisture prior to cooking and will strengthen your flavors and make the final product less watery. Let the eggplant sit for about 10-15 minutes before you dab dry with a paper towel. While it is sitting, mix the ricotta filling. Set up your breading station. We used homemade breadcrumbs and seasoned them with some parsley, oregano, salt, pepper and parmigiano-reggiano. So the process for breading is, dip in flour, dip in egg, dip in breadcrumbs, fry. Got it? I’m not going to go into specifics so if you have questions email us or comment. After frying, let them cool on the baking tray rack. This will keep them up and out of oil soaked paper towels and keeps them crisp and non-greasy.

Ricotta Filling:
10 oz of Ricotta
1 Egg
Salt
1 t Parsley
1 t Oregano
1 t Garlic Powder
Parmigiano Reggiano

Mix the ingredients in a mixing bowl. I know it has raw egg BUT, I taste it for seasoning. I suppose you can taste it first and then add the egg but that would be logical. Kids and the elderly, do not try at home.

Parmigiana:
Prepared Sauce
Prepared Eggplant
1 9x9 baking vessel
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, use as much as you like

Add a ladle of sauce to the bottom of the vessel and use it to “grease” the pan. Place a layer of eggplant, sauce, mozzarella, ricotta, shaved Parmigiano-reggiano, eggplant, sauce, mozzarella ricotta, shaved PM, eggplant etc etc….Just keep going until the vessel is full. You want the last three layers to be, eggplant, sauce, mozzarella. Throw this in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes until warmed through and lightly browned on top. Delicious. Chloe and I did a little multitasking on this one, while I was cutting she was setting up, while I was frying she was breading etc. Our own little kitchen assembly line. Plus we hadn’t seen each other in a week and it let us talk while avoiding the various walls in my apartment.

Once again, if you guys have any questions feel free to comment or email and don’t forget…recipes are guidelines, make your own changes and enjoy.