Old Fashioned Eggplant Parm & Pasta....

Sometimes I think I was Italian in my previous life. If I had to pick a cuisine that was my favorite it would be Italian or at the very least Mediterranean. The more I write about what I eat the more I realize this….

I happen to love eggplant in all its forms. I grill it, roast it and bake it but I don’t often fry it. Recently I had this craving for old-fashioned Eggplant Parmigiano. One of my Grandma Rita’s favorite dishes used to be Eggplant Rollatini - I can still remember her smacking her lips in delight when she ate it…. but I, on the other hand, have always preferred Parmigiano. Ricotta vs. Mozzarella? Fried vs. grilled? Over the years I’ve made lighter versions of Eggplant Parm by just grilling or roasting the eggplant and / or using fresh tomatoes instead of sauce but on a cold rainy day I revert back to the dishes of my childhood and I wanted an authentic “whole kitchen sink, all in version. Fried, breaded with tons of melted cheese with a healthy side of garlic bread. For me, it conjures up lots of different memories: eating with my grandparents at their favorite Italian restaurant down in Fort Lauderdale for the 5:00 special, or the one at the former Tarry Lodge in Port Chester and another just at a friend’s home. The wedges from Casa D’Italia in Harrison or from Rocky’s in Millwood are also part of those taste memories.

This version came out especially good….try it. It’s hard to resist.

Ingredients

For the eggplant:

2 eggplants, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds

3 eggs

Panko or Bread crumbs (I used a combination of homemade and Panko)

Flour

Fresh Parsley (you can use dried if you don’t have fresh)

Kosher Salt & freshly ground Black Pepper

Sunflower or Canola or Vegetable Oil to fry the slices in

For the Sauce:

For this version, I had a lot of fresh tomatoes to use and complemented them with jarred Rao’s Homemade Tomato Sauce. You can use any sauce that you make or buy that you like. To make this one:

12 Tomatoes

5- 6 garlic cloves

Olive Oil

Fresh Basil

1-2 Jars of Rao’s Homemade Tomato Sauce

Kosher Salt & Pepper

For the layers:

Fresh mozzarella, grated.

Fresh Parmigiano, grated

Directions

I peel my eggplants but only partially - I have this method of doing every other stripe. I cut off the ends and then slice them about 1/4 inch thick. Then I salted them with Kosher Salt and Let them sit. I used my baking sheets and stacked one sheet with parchment paper on top of the other. I let them sit like that for a few hours. It helps to remove the moisture from the eggplants.

While the eggplants are resting I started my sauce or gravy as some call it. I cut up my tomatoes and threw them into a colander so they, too, could drain. I let them sit for about half an hour.

At this point I sliced my garlic cloves thinly and sautéed them in some olive oil so they were slightly softened. Then I dumped all the tomatoes into the pan and just let the tomatoes cook down for a while. When that looked about right, I dumped a whole jar of Rao’s into the pan and just let it cook down. I threw in a bunch of basil, ripped up.

While this was happening I made 3 plates - 1 with flour to which I added kosher salt, pepper and fresh parsley, another with the eggs, scrambled and the third with the panko/bread crumb mixture. I decided to add some extra grated Parmigiano to that - I wanted my eggplants extra cheesy! (YUM!).

I patted the slices of eggplant to remove the moisture. Then I started the assembly. Press the eggplant (both sides) into the flour, then the egg and then the panko mixture. When you start doing this you can heat up your oil…it needs to be hot!

Depending on how large your pan is you should start the frying. I could fit about five or six slices at a time so I would get those done, put them in the pan and then start working on the other. Keep an eye on your eggplant; you’ll need to flip them. It’s really helpful if you have long tongs to do this. The scent of the eggplants frying wafted down my block and when Ben & Alexa came back from a walk they said you could smell it all the way down. We all tried a slice - just to make sure it was “ok”. (It was!)

After the slices are fried, lay them out on a paper towel to drain the oil from them. When all the slices were done, I grated the fresh mozzarella and took a break. Check your sauce, taste it. Add salt, pepper if you need. Now you are ready to assemble.

Assembly - Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

To make the parm, you’ll need a 9 x 13 dish. For my version I somehow forgot I was only serving three of us. I pulled out my huge roasting pan and made enough for a small army.

Using a ladle or spoon, spread a very thin layer of sauce on the bottom of your dish. Layer the eggplants on top of that and then ladle on another layer of sauce. On top of that, spread some of the grated mozzarella cheese over that. If you are making single serving portions, it’s nice to just make stacks of these, single layer style (eggplant, sauce, mozzarella) but I was going for a casserole look so I could dig in.

If that’s what you’re looking for, repeat the process. I would keep it at 2 or 3 layers of this. On the top layer, sprinkle Parmigiano cheese.

Bake for 35 - 45 minutes. Check to see if the cheese looks gooey enough or browned enough for you. I always go for the crispy edges. Towards the end of the cooking, I put the oven on broil for 5-10 minutes and let it crisp up the top. Let it rest for a few minutes if you can. I just boiled some pasta I had to go on the side with it and made some fresh garlic bread as well. I added some simple greens to the mix - just arugula with some balsamic vinegar. Serve it all with grated Parmigiano, extra sauce and red chili flakes, salt and pepper. It’s a crowd pleaser! I had decided earlier in the day to finally tackle steaming an artichoke but I think I’ll leave that for another posting!

Enjoy!