Recipe: Melanzane alla Parmigiana (Aubergine Parmesan)

You can gauge the popularity of a food by its ubiquity. In Florence, if you go into a deli, a bakery, a supermarket, you’re going to be able to find this incredible dish – Melanzane alla Parmigiana. It’s a versatile dish that makes for a great jumping-in point for this blog; it has simple ingredients, tastes fantastic and is really easy to make.

The dish originated in the southern regions of Italy, and Naples has a particularly strong claim to being the bearer of the original recipe. Aubergine recipes have been found in Southern Italy dating back as far as 1400, although the first recipes for Melanzane alla Parmigiana don’t appear until a little later. Originally, the style was more akin to the creamy layer of a lasagne, with slices of aubergine baked in a béchamel and parmesan sauce, and it wasn’t until the early 19^th century that the newly popular tomato entered the fray. From there, the food spread across Italy and over the Atlantic to America, where you can also find versions made with breaded pieces of chicken or veal.

My version of Parmigiana comes from nowhere in particular, aside from having eaten the dish at every opportunity, and most of all trying to emulate the most fantastic one I had back in sunny Bristol, homemade by a good friend in a bad time.

Serves 4-6

Prep & Cooking time: 90 mins

Ingredients:

1 brown onion, finely chopped

3 cloves fresh garlic, crushed

1 tbsp tomato purée

2 tsp oregano

3 medium aubergines, sliced lengthways

A heap of grated parmesan

A mozzarella ball

Breadcrumbs

Plenty of good olive oil

Salt

Pepper

The Sauce:

A good tomato sauce is a must, and I must emphasize that a little patience goes a long way in Italian food. The difference between heating a tin of tomatoes in a saucepan and cooking a tomato sauce is much more a matter of giving it the time to cook than ingredients you throw in.

1.       Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a saucepan over a medium heat, until the oil is hot but not smoking

2.       Fry the onions until they go translucent (five minutes or so) and add the garlic and oregano, stirring to prevent the garlic burning

3.       After a few more minutes, add the tomato puree and stir in

4.       Stir in a tin of tomatoes (I usually also add about half a tin of water, in order to rinse out the tin, but you can take or leave that one), bring the sauce to the boil and let it simmer, seasoning with a good pinch of salt (don’t skimp, a pinch of salt is not to be taken literally) and pepper

An Italian Pinch

5.       Leave this bad boy covered and bubblin’ for a good half an hour, longer if you can. If it needs more liquid, add water as necessary.

You can do the sauce in advance (this sauce recipe is a good general base for any tomato-centric dishes, and makes a good pizza sauce too if you reduce it for long enough), either on the day or long before if you make up a big batch and freeze it.

The Aubergines:

Nowadays, we don’t need to salt our aubergines (aren’t we lucky), but adding a bit of salt to each slice at this stage will make for a tastier end result. You want to slice them to ¼ of an inch thick (I tend to loathe the use of imperial but half a centimetre won’t do it and a centimetre is probably too much).

1.       Give each slice of aubergine a coating of oil, either with a pastry brush or by hand. You’ll need lots of oil, as those slices can be thirsty!

Yes, that is a petrol can.

2.       Fry the slices hot, or alternatively you can grill or bake them (or my preferred way, use a griddle pan, but I had to leave it behind *sad face*). A bit of charring on the pieces won’t hurt, in fact I find it gives the aubergine a stronger, more savoury edge.

The Main Event:

You can pre-fry all of the aubergine, or you can do this part as you go. You’re going to want your sauce at hand, as well as your cheese ready and grated/sliced. You can also choose here whether to add mozzarella to each layer or save it for the end. The former tends to create a hot goopy wonder of cheese and aubergine, while the other is a little less messy, and I find lets the parmesan flavour express itself better as you eat. Your choice (my advice is make both).

1.       Heat up your oven to 200/180(fan)/Gas Mark 6

2.       In a deep oven-proof dish (a lasagne dish is great), layer the food. You want to build it in this order – aubergine, sauce, cheese and repeat until you reach the top.

3.       Add breadcrumbs to the final layer if you desire; you’ll end up with a crispy top that looks great and adds a little crunch to the otherwise quite soft dish.

4.       Bake in the oven for 25-30 minutes, until the cheese/crumbs on top go a nice golden brown

Of course, I'd eaten half before I remembered to take a photo

Eat:

Put in mouth, swallow.

And there you have it. You can have Melanzane as a main course, a side dish, or if you’re like me, you can eat 3 servings worth in one sitting with a salad spoon.

Ciao tutti!