As a child I used to dislike this dish, mainly due to the eggplants. Like many of you, I never really liked eggplants. When I went to Italy last summer, I discovered the joys of eating "melanzane" as they call them. They are mostly served oven-baked. So last week I went to the market and was drawn to their beautiful "aubergine" colour. I decided that I would try to make this dish and see what happens. Warning: do not do the same mistake as I did and make this dish on a boring Monday night when it is 35 degrees outside. Reserve this meal for a Saturday evening with family. It took me 2 hours to make this and 2 minutes to eat it. But hey, this was amazing! Even my boyfriend, who hates eggplants, thought that it was delicious! So I hope that you too will change your opinion on eggplants...
Ingredients
2 lbs (about 5 tiny or 2 large) eggplants
Salt
1/2 cup flour
1/2 breadcrumbs
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
4 large eggs, beaten
About 2 1/2 cups grated cheese ( I used the Italian cheese mix)
1 packed cup fresh basil leaves
Directions
1. Cut eggplants so slices are about 0.5cm thick. Place one layer of eggplants in a colander and sprinkle with salt. Continue this way until all eggplants are in colander, making sure to salt every layer. Place a stack of plates over eggplants and let drain for about 2 hours. Do not skip this step or else you will end up with a soggy dish.
2. Meanwhile, make your tomato sauce. Click here for recipe and directions.
3. Once the eggplant has drained, place eggplant on paper towels and remove excess water and salt.
4. In a large shallow bowl, mix flour, breadcrumbs and rosemary. In another large bowl, beat eggs.
5. Heat a large skillet with lots of olive oil on medium heat. Dip eggplant slices in breadcrumbs first and then in eggs. Fry in skillet until golden brown on each side. Place eggplants on paper towel to absorb excess fat.
6. Repeat step 5 until all eggplants are fried. I usually work with 10 slices at a time, taking about 30 minutes total to fry.
7. In a 13x9 inch glass dish, spread one cup of tomato sauce and top with one layer of eggplants. Sprinkle with 1/3 of the cheese and half of the basil.
8. Make a second layer of eggplants and top with 1 cup of sauce, 1/3 of cheese and the remaining basil.
9. Add remaining eggplants and top with remaining sauce and cheese.
10. Bake at 350 degrees F for about 30 minutes, or until cheese has browned and eggplants are tender.
Recipe inspired from Simply Recipes
1 comments:
I made this dish one winter evening when it was really cold outside, and underestimated how long it would take to prepare. My mistake was that we were hungry when I started making the dish. It did take close to 2 and half hours with preparation and baking time, and about 1 minute for Maxime to essentially inhale his meal.
But it was quite delicious, but I'll only make it for really special occasions. :)
Thanks for sharing.
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