Recipe * Aubergines Parmigiana

Italian cuisine, much to the benefit of contemporary vegetarians, relies on a hard core of veggie delicious dishes, and there are many examples in the rural cuisine, such as high-protein soups with cereals and legumes, but also the so called holiday dishes, one being the Aubergines parmigiana, real veggie deli. Any DOCG Italian family enshrines at least a couple of versions of the recipe, that usually strongly differ. The following is the one I've seen putting in the oven since I was a kid:

Just picked sun ripened tomatoes from the kitchen garden

Oregano

Home made extra virgin olive oil

Basil

Chili

Rosemary flavoured salt

Salt

Onion (very little)

Aubergines

Mozzarella cheese

Grana Padano

Slice the aubergines and arrange these on a large plate. Sprinkle with a generous amount of salt. Place another plate on top, and then place something heavy on top of that (such as a big pot filled with water), let them drain the bitter water for at least one hour, dry with dishcloths, deep fry (possibly in extra virgin olive oil) and strain the oil with paper. On a side chop the tomatoes in small cubes and cook a fresh sauce, warming the oil with, browning slightly one or two fine chopped slices of onion, add tomatoes, oregano and at the end basil, you can eventually mash the sauce in the masher. In a oiled baking pan add in sequence: sauce, aubergines, mozzarella, grated Grana Padano, and again to create 3 or four layers, the last one being aubergines and some spoons of sauce. Bake in hot oven for at least 30' (medium-high temperature).

Variations: in bianco grilled aubergines and mozzarella (three layers, two of aubergines and one of mozzarella) with basil, as side dish.

©2010

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