Eggplant Parmigiana
Directions
- 1Take a frying pan and add extra virgin olive oil.
- 2Add a good amount of garlic, making sure to remove the middle part.
- 3Start sizzling the garlic in the oil.
- 4Pour tomato passata into the frying pan with the sizzling garlic and oil.
- 5Add a little bit of water to the passata.
- 6Bring the pan to the stove, cover with a lid, and let it cook for 20-30 minutes until the sauce becomes dense and thick.
- 7Grab the eggplant, wash, and dry it.
- 8Remove the bottom and top parts of the eggplant.
- 9Cut the eggplant into slices about 1 centimeter thick.
- 10Place the eggplant slices on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
- 11Add some salt to the eggplant slices.
- 12Bake the eggplant slices at 200 degrees Celsius for about 15 minutes.
- 13Grab an oven baking tray to build the parmigiana.
- 14Start by spreading a layer of the thick tomato sauce at the bottom of the tray.
- 15Place a layer of baked eggplant slices over the sauce.
- 16Add another layer of tomato sauce on top of the eggplant.
- 17Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the sauce layer.
- 18Add fresh basil leaves on top of the mozzarella.
- 19Repeat the layering process (sauce, eggplant, sauce, mozzarella, basil) until you have 3 or 4 layers.
- 20For the last layer, do not put basil; instead, grate Parmigiano cheese after the mozzarella and sauce.
- 21Bake the parmigiana in the oven at 200 degrees Celsius for about 15 to 20 minutes until a nice crust forms on top.
- 22Once cooked, let it cool down for about 10 minutes before cutting and serving.
Ingredients
- 1 kg long eggplants
- 750 ml tomato passata
- 5 cloves garlic (center removed)
- 200 g mozzarella
- 20 g Parmigiano Reggiano
- fresh basil leaves
- olive oil
- salt
- a little bit water
Equipment
frying panbaking traybaking paperknifegrateroven
Tips
- Remove the middle part of the garlic to make it lighter on the stomach.
- Let the cooked parmigiana cool down a little (about 10 minutes) before cutting to help the layers settle beautifully.