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Montefegatesi is a remote Tuscan mountain village with a big History. Its origin goes back to prehistoric times. There is a calm atmosphere on its narrow roads despite its torrid history,
Back home we cooked an Eggplant/Aubergine Parmigiana - Parmigiana di Melanzane
Parmigiana is a classical Italian dish probably originating in Naples or Sicily but now enjoyed all over the country.
The version I’m preparing is the one that has been in my family for generations. It is very simple but super delicious.
Ingredients (serves 2 generously)
2 Eggplants (1 lb/450 gr each) or equivalent number for 2 lb/900 gr in weight
⅓ cup coarse salt
1 bottle Tomato passata 25 oz/750 gr
½ cup of water
½ Onion
4 oz/100 gr Parmigiano Reggiano or Grana Padano Cheese grated
6 large basil leaves
8 oz/250 gr Mozzarella
3 tbsp EVO Oil for the tomato sauce
Good Frying oil (at least 10 fl oz/300 ml) ( I used sunflower oil)
Salt to season
First, we slice the eggplants, not too thick about ½ centimetre (⅕ of an inch)
Put them in layers in a colander and sprinkle salt between layers. The salt will extract some of the bitter water from the eggplant.
On the top of the pile place a dish with a weight on it to squeeze out the liquid.
Leave then for 45 min at least.
In the meantime let’s prepare the tomato sauce, the mozzarella and the Parmigiano cheese
For the tomato sauce:
Chop the onion
In a frying pan pour 3 tbsp of EVO oil and add the chopped onions, lightly fry them until golden.
Add the passata. If it is too thick add ½ cup of water. Cook on low to medium heat for ½ an hour, stirring it occasionally. Two minutes before completion add a couple of torn basil leaves and season to taste.
Dice the mozzarella and grate the Parmigiano Cheese
Now it is time to fry the eggplants.
Rinse them thoroughly, in batches (otherwise they might go brown) and dry them with a tea towel.
In a frying pan pour the oil and turn the heat on until it reaches the right temperature (170C / 340 F). The best way to check it without a thermometer is to use the corner of a slice of eggplant. If it sizzles happily, the temperature is right. If you see smoke coming out of the oil it is too hot. Better to start on a low heat and check how it progresses.
Fry the eggplant slices until they get the wonderful golden brown color.
Place them on kitchen paper to absorb the excess oil.
When the eggplants are ready we can proceed to assemble the Parmigiana.
At the bottom of the oven dish put the first layer of tomato sauce then a layer of eggplant, then parmigiano cheese, mozzarella and tomato sauce. Add more eggplant, mozzarella, parmigiano, tomato sauce and a few basil leaves.
Continue layer after layer. At the top cover with tomato sauce, mozzarella and parmigiano.
Bake in a preheated static oven (200 C / 390 F) for 45 minutes or until the top gets darker.
Let it rest for 5 minutes and serve.
Buon appetito.
Enzo & Celia - Piazza Talk Lucca
Bushwick Tarantella di Kevin MacLeod è un brano concesso in uso tramite licenza Creative Commons Attribuzione 4.0. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Fonte: incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
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