An Italian dish prepared out of Sliced eggplant shallow fried, layered with tomato sauce,cheese and baked.
Ingredients:-
• Large eggplant.2 nos
• Mozzarella cheese 100 gms
• Parmesan cheese 100 gms
• Olive oil 2 tbs
• Butter 1tbs
• Fresh Basil leaves
• Tomato paste 250 gms
• Chopped onion 2 med sized
• Crushed peppercorn 1tbs
• Salt to taste
Method:-
Slice eggplant thinly sprinkle salt and leave it for an hour. This allows to remove excess water from the eggplant.
Take a pan and heat at medium
flame. Pour olive oil and butter. Once it’s hot, add finely chopped onions and saute till it’s translucent. Add tomato paste, crushed peppercorn,salt to taste. Take few fresh Basil leaves, chop it and add to sauce and allow to simmer for about 15 minutes.
Rinse salted eggplant slices In water, squeeze out water and dry each slices using paper towels.
Oil in a pan and heat on to medium flame and fry out the egg plant and leave it drain all oil.
Now time to layer eggplant in a baking dish. Spread few spoonful of tomato sauce in to the bottom of baking dish and spread across evenly. Spread a layer of eggplant and sprinkle Parmesan cheese and few slice of mozzarella cheese. Repeat this layering process till the baking dish is almost full. The final layer topping with tomato sauce, grated Parmesan cheese and shredded mozzarella cheese.
Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for about 15 minutes in a pre heated oven at 180 degree centigrade.
Remove the foil cover and bake again for about 10 minutes to get cheese melted and get golden brown color.
Slice it out and serve hot with Basil leaves as garnish.
Don’t you fry a bit the eggplant slices on both sides in olive oil before you put them in the oven? My mother grill them in a pan without oil to make the Parmigiana lighter.