Serves 6
Melanzane, the dish as I got to know it, is actually called Aubergine Parmigiana or Melanzane alla Parmigiana in the big culinary world out there. Whatever it’s called, it is totally delicious, and works on a warm day or a cold winter’s day; it is also vegetarian and the copious amounts of cheese sort out the comforting aspect.
There are questions, though. To salt or not to salt, to peel or not to peel? To use tinned tomatoes or fresh ones?
Salting the aubergine beforehand is simply to remove the bitterness, is the general opinion, and the true belief by the aubergine lovers is that it prevents the aubergine from soaking up too much oil when frying. It may be true, but for me the salt gives it more flavor and makes me feel better about the possible bitterness. As far as frying is concerned, I think it will soak up the oil anyway and a good draining and patting with kitchen paper will do the trick.
Peeling the aubergine skin is simply a personal issue and the skin provides a welcome textural contrast in a dish that can otherwise tend to be mushy. It also prevents the slices from falling apart when fried. When the dish is finally baked and put in front of you, I see no harm in the individual removing the skin without much trouble.
I have nothing against canned tomatoes, but I tend to taste the tin and that is a no-no for me. I prefer using fresh ones even if it is quite cumbersome to peel and seed, and the flavor in the end is the winner.
This Melanzane recipe, nevertheless, is a great way to serve aubergine. By frying and layering it with Parmesan, mozarella and tomatoes and then baking it until golden on top, makes a very satisfying vegetarian dish, and is also great served as a side-dish to roast meat or fish.
3 large aubergine
olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove regular garlic, finely sliced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 kg/2Â lb fresh ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and diced
2 large tomatoes, peeled and cut in slices
salt and freshly ground black pepper
wine vinegar
1 cup fresh basil, roughly torn
2-3 cups Parmesan cheese, freshly grated finely
2 cups dried breadcrumbs
a little fresh oregano, leaves chopped
2 cups hard mozzarella, roughly sliced and chopped, or grated
vegetable oil for frying
- Slice the aubergine in 1 cm/¼ in slices, arrange on a large cooling rack and sprinkle liberally with salt on both sides of each slice. Let it sit for about 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, heat some all in a frying pan and lightly fry the onion, garlic and dried oregano until the onion is soft and the garlic golden.
- Add the chopped tomatoes to the onion mixture, give it a good stir, add salt and pepper, then put a lid on the pan and simmer for 15 minutes.
- When its reduced and sweet, add a few drops of the wine vinegar.
- Meanwhile, in a large frying pan pour the oil about 1½ cm/1 in deep and heat to about 170ºC/330ºF.
- Rinse the aubergine slices very well to get rid of the excess salt, and pat dry.
- Fry the aubergine slices until lightly golden on both sides and tender. Remove from the oil with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. You may have to do this in batches.
- Grease a heat-proof dish (25 x 15cm/9½ x 12 in) or six individual dishes.
- Pour all the tomato sauce in the dish and spread it evenly, then put a single layer of aubergines on top of that, followed by a generous sprinkle of parmesan cheese.
- Next comes a layer of sliced tomato, a few bits of torn basil and some salt and then a layer of mozzarella cheese.
- Repeat these layers until you’ve used up all the ingredients, finishing with a little sauce and the rest of the Parmesan, mixed with the breadcrumbs, a little olive oil, and the chopped fresh oregano.
If you have any mozzarella left over, mix that in too.
- Bake the Melanzane in the oven at 190°C/375°F for half an hour until golden, crisp and bubbly.
- It is best eaten straight away while the mozzarella is still gooey.