La Parmigiana Di Melanzane
It's hard to believe that it has been almost three years since Antonio Carluccio left us. His vibrancy, laughter and passion lives on in many kitchens through his masterful cookery books and entertaining TV shows. This week we are featuring a dish that is a fantastic all rounder. Beautiful to match with Chardonnay through to Pinot Noir and medium bodied reds, so warm and delicious in winter - and even better a day or so later. His infamous La Parmigiana Di Melanzane!
Ingredients
- 4 large aubergines weighing altogether 1.1 - 1.2kg
- plain flour for coating
- 4 eggs
- plenty of olive oil
- 300 g fontina cheese, sliced
- 115 g parmesan, freshly grated
- salt and pepper to taste
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 1.5x 800g cans peeled plum tomatoes, chopped in the can
- 10 fresh basil leaves, torn
Method
- A recipe from Antonio Carluccio
- Slice the aubergines about 1cm (1/2 inch) thick. Dust the slices on both sides with flour. Beat the eggs, season with salt, and dip the floured aubergine slices into this. Fry the aubergine slices three or four times in some hot oil. Brown on both sides, remove and drain on kitchen paper. You will need more oil from time to time.
- Make your tomato sauce in your usual way, adding salt, pepper and the basil towards the end, or use your preferred store bought passata.
- Preheat the oven to 200C.
- Put two or three spoonfuls of tomato sauce in the bottom of a large ovenproof dish, then arrange a layer of the aubergine slices, placed as close together as possible. Cover the aubergines with some pieces of fontina, spoon a little tomato sauce on the cheese and sprinkle with some Parmesan. Continue with another layer of aubergine slices, arranging them in the opposite direction to the layer below, cover with fontina, tomato sauce and Parmesan. The final layer should be of tomato sauce, small pieces of fontina and a generous amount of Parmesan.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. Leave the dish to sit for 15 minutes before cutting up to serve.
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