Estimated reading time: 4 minutes
Italian Parmigiana di melanzane: a pearl of Sicilian cuisine. Ciao Ragazzi! We travel to the south of Italy, to Sicily where we will eat something very tasty. And how I love this dish! Delicious as a main course, but also as a side dish. I prefer to leave it in the fridge for a day before eating it. This is how all the flavors attract the aubergines. Melanzane alla parmigiana
Italian parmigiana di melanzane
A fun fact about the origin of the name: parmigiana comes from the Sicilian word 'parmiciana' which is dialect for the wooden slats of the shutters in Italian houses. The court would look like this. Do you see it? We place the aubergines in the dish as a kind of slats and in this way build up a nice full dish.
As with many dishes, there are many variations on this dish. Not as it should be according to the Italians, of course. They are quite “sticklers to the rules”, as they should be and not otherwise… If you are not a fan of eggplant, you could also make it with zucchini. And if you are a real meat eater you can add minced meat. But try it like this first!
This is a delicious way to enjoy the flavors of Italian cuisine, without too much effort. The parmigiana di melanzane is a casserole that you can easily prepare in advance and put in the oven when you are ready to eat. You can serve it with a fresh salad, or a piece of bread to dip the sauce with. It is a dish that both young and old will enjoy, and that you can also keep for the next day.
Here you will find the complete recipe with all the ingredients you need. I hope you have fun preparing the dish below.
Italian Parmigiana di Melanzane
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Ingredients:
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And this is how you make it:
- Cut the aubergines into thin long slices. Sprinkle with salt and place in a colander.
- Cover them with a plate and put something heavy on the plate so that the aubergines are well pressed. Let it stand for half an hour. That's how you squeeze out the moisture.
- Cut the mozzarella into cubes and let it drain in a sieve or small colander as well.
- Meanwhile, take a deep pan and finely chop the onion. Heat a dash of olive oil in the pan and fry the onion.
- After a few minutes, deglaze with the red wine and let it simmer for a while. Then add the passata and basil. Stir well, season with salt and pepper and let it sit on low heat for half an hour.
- When the aubergines have drained, you can fry or grill them.
- This is how you deep-fry: Take a deep pan with a thick bottom and put a good layer of oil in it. Bring the oil to a temperature of 180 degrees and fry the aubergines in it for 3/4 minutes until they turn golden brown.
- This is how you grill: Take a grill pan and heat it (without oil). Let it get warm and grill the aubergines for 3/4 min on both sides.
- Get a baking dish. Cover the bottom with some tomato sauce and place the aubergines vertically. Spread the top of the aubergines with (note, a very thin layer) tomato sauce.
- Then top with slices of mozzarella and 2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese. Then place the next layer of aubergines in the opposite direction on top of the mozzarella and parmesan.
- Repeat the previous three steps up to the top of the baking dish. Finish with a layer of mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Then put the baking dish in the oven at 180 degrees for 40 minutes.
- When you take the dish out of the oven, let it rest for a while before slicing it. Garnish with parmesan cheese.
- Delicious bites!
This Blog “Italian parmigiana di melanzane” is a contribution of Tim from La Cucina Di Tim. We virtually cross with him through Italy and have already visited a lot of beautiful places. And very nice to know: the journey is far from over! In the coming period we will therefore discover many more beautiful Italian classics. A few easy and tasty recipes include:
We made an Italian crema al caffé.
And also homemade ricotta, which is very simple.
Slightly more complicated but worth it are cannoli's!
This is how you make the perfect pasta.
And pesto is an indispensable part of Italian cuisine.
Next stop? See you again soon!
Delicious Happen is a multi-media company, so you can also find me on various social media. follow me on Facebook, Pinterest en Instagram under @delicioushappen. If you make this recipe I would love it if you tagged me #delicioushappen. A comment below in the comments is also nice of course!
Eggplant Parmesan
Awesome dish!