Eggplant Paramigiana ‚ new and old style

Delicious and very rich, this can make a meal on its own for vegetarians or be eaten as part of antipasto, as a side dish or as a first course.- as a vegetable. This recipe is the traditional method which Silvana learnt in Italy. Following that is a modern adaptation

Serves 6

Ingredients

600 grams eggplant
6 bocconcini (or fresh pecorino or mozzarella, any soft cheese) sliced through
150 grams parmesan, grated
6 ripe Roma tomatoes)
2 cloves garlic, chopped
26 large basil leaves and same amount of Italian parsley, about 3 full stalks
2 eggs
30 ml olive oil
1/2 litre vegetable oil
flour for batter
drop of water

Method

Put tomatoes into boiling water to take the skin off. Scrape skin, don't peel as you lose the best part. Get the knife and just rub it against the skin to loosen. When they are very ripe, you don't need to blanch, but can just scrape the skin off with a knife. Chop in small pieces and put in garlic, parsley and basil (keep some leaves aside for final assembly), salt and pepper and a little bit of olive oil, not too much as the eggplant is fried in oil.

Cut eggplant in thick slices, about 2 cm because you need to feel the texture of the eggplant. Leave the slices under salt for at least 20 minutes then wash and dry.

Beat egg very well for egg wash.

Dip eggplant into egg and then flour. Press well into the flour, as the slices should absorb a lot of the flour because they need a shell, to protect the eggplant, Press down hard into the flour and then shake of the excess. If you just roll it in the flour, they won't stay together. You need to get a crust of flour otherwise when you put the eggplant into the oil, it will puff up and the coating will then peel off. The flour crust is important as it seals in the juices of the eggplant.

Heat a lot of vegetable oil in pan. It has to be very hot and slices go in and out quickly because if the eggplant overcooks when you fry it, it becomes like polenta.

To assemble - put fried eggplant on bottom of a baking dish, then a layer of bocconcini slices which should completely cover the eggplant.

Grate parmesan over thickly then the tomato mixture, and then repeat to make two layers. A third layer becomes too much because the slices are quite thick. Top the second layer with bocconcini, as you did previously, and finish with parmesan. Cook uncovered in the oven at 250o for 10 mins

Just before serving you can use the basil leaves you have put aside and arrange them on top of the layered eggplant.

The Modern Method

Slice the eggplant, do not salt. Just dip in oil and put on tray and grill. (this is similar to the method used for zucchini antipasto given previously)

The eggplant is not put into egg and flour so that the shiny blackness of the skin remains.

It is then assembled and cooked as above.

This leads to more colour contrast as you see the black of the eggplant skin against the white of the cheese and the red of the tomato.

The modern version looks better and tastes more contrasting, more exciting.

It is quicker to prepare and also lighter to digest.

But the method with egg and flour coating results in being able to taste more the flavour of the eggplant and feel more its juice. It is a richer, fuller flavoured dish.

Eggplant Preserve Antipasto