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Aubergines ‘Alla Parmigiana’

by Micaela Harrasser

This is a traditional and very much beloved italian dish that is not very well known abroad. So weird, because it’s super easy to make and so so delicious you’ll dream about it!

Interestingly, it reminds people of a lasagna because of the multiple layers of the same ingredient mix. It’s made up of only 3 main ingredients, so it is important that the quality (and flavor) of them is top.

For the mozzarella, I would recommend the shredded type (like Galbani, and they do the shredded version of the ‘mozzarella cucina’, which contains less milk than a standard mozzarella). This makes it perfect as topping for pizzas etc when you don’t want to water everything down with the mozzarella juices!.

The original version calls for frying your aubergine slices in oil for max flavor. For a healthier version, you have 2 options. The first one is to pre-cook the slices (oven or microwave), then use very little oil just to add a bit of flavor. The second is to omit the oil entirely and simply pre-cook (bake, grill..) the aubergines. To be completely honest with you, I had the ‘no oil’ version and to me something was missing. Perhaps its characteristic richness? So my solution is to use oil, and to have a slightly smaller slice 😉

The tomato sauce: this should be at the same level as a good tomato pasta sauce you would eat with some pasta, and that’s it. This is because tomato is the main ingredient, navigating through the layers and hugging the other ingredients. So never ever use tomato sauce straight from a can or bottle without flavoring it first. It would be a disaster D: so here I share with you my super simple tomato sauce 😊 hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

[rating]

Aubergines 'Alla Parmigiana'

Serves: 6 Prep Time: Cooking Time: Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Ingredients

For a 20cm dish:

  • 2 large aubergines about 750g
  • 150g grated mozzarella cheese (Galbani mozzarella is super nice)
  • Oil to shallow fry
  • 800g good quality tomato sauce (to make it from scratch: 2x400g cans tomatoes, soffritto, 1 veggie stock cube, salt to taste)

Instructions

  1. First of all, we have to get as much water out the aubergines as possible. You can do this the night before and forget about them, or at least 2h before cooking them.
  2. Chop them into disks 0.5cm thick, then place them on a large sieve/colander (the one you would use for the pasta) and onto each layer, sprinkle some salt on top (rock salt ideally).
  3. Tomato sauce from scratch: you’ll need 2x 400g cans of passata or datterini (he second if you want more texture, ideally from Mutti) and to make soffritto (finely diced onion, carrot + celery).
  4. First, cook the soffritto in a pot for 10-15min on low heat (it’s long but it’s very important to get the most out of it).
  5. Add the tomato sauce with a veggie stock cube teared into smaller pieces.
  6. Once it starts bubbling, put the lid on and cook for 1h, stirring occasionally to avoid it to stick to the bottom.
  7. What we are looking for here, apart from adding layers of flavor to the sauce, is to get it thickened up. If it still looks very watery after 50 min, remove the lid and increase heat, but stir it more frequently and don’t leave it unattended – it loves to splash all over the place and to stick to your pan!
  8. Once the sauce is ready, focus on the aubergines: for my ‘not too oily’ method, I microwave the slices for 1 ½ min then place them in a pan with a little bit of oil on each slice – you want to make sure they don’t dry too much while cooking, but also that they’re not looking like a sponge soaked in oil.
  9. Cook until brown-ish and soft, then place on a plate covered with kitchen towel to absorb excessive oil.
  10. Once you are halfway through, turn the oven on to 180C.
  11. In case you want to fully bake them, place them on a tray in the oven and cook until tender, making sure to not burn them.
  12. Once the oven is at temperature and you are ready to assemble, do the following to build up the layers: first, you coat the bottom of the dish with some tomato sauce to avoid the aubergines to stick to it (easier to clean afterwards..!).
  13. Next, place the aubergines to make an even layer, trying to cover as much surface as possible (yes, you can break/chop slices into smaller pieces).
  14. Next, sprinkle about ¼ of the shredded mozzarella on top.
  15. Finally, add the tomato sauce: not too much (you don’t want the aubergines to float) and sparse, just like in the picture.
  16. Here’s your first layer! Repeat until you run out of aubergines, making sure to have plenty of tomato sauce left to completely cover the final layer.
  17. Optional: grate some cheese on top for extra flavor!
  18. Cook in the oven for about 30 min, take out and wait until it cools down. This wonder awaits you now 😀 Buon appetito!

Notes

Note: you can make the tomato sauce in advance and freeze it in the correct amounts based on its purpose. You can combine this tomato sauce with pre-cooked minced meat for a stunning lasagna.

Storage: You can store in the fridge for up to 4 days if in airtight container. AND you can freeze them from cooked for up to 2 months.

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