TABELIAAUTHENTIC RECIPE
Frittata di MelanzaneEggplant Frittata
A southern Italian home-style frittata of shallow-fried eggplant baked in eggs and Parmigiano.
AUTHENTICITY SCORE
Authenticity Score
This is the standard recipe, exactly as it’s made where it comes from — the highest Authenticity Score possible. Substituting ingredients changes this score; the app shows exactly how, ingredient by ingredient.
Ingredients (4 servings)
- EggplantsRemove stems and cut into 1.5 cm cubes.3 pieces
- Eggs6 pieces
- Parmigiano ReggianoGrated.40 g
- BasilTorn by hand.6 leaves
- Extra virgin olive oilIncludes the amount for shallow-frying.60 ml
- Salt4 g
- Black peppera little
Method
Prepare the eggplant and cheese
- 1 Trim 3 eggplants and cut into 1.5 cm cubes.
- 2 Grate 40 g Parmigiano.
Caution
Move straight on before the cut eggplant discolors.
Shallow-fry the eggplant
- 1 Heat 50 ml extra virgin olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat and spread the eggplant without overlapping.
- 2 Shallow-fry, turning occasionally. Once golden all over and meltingly tender from absorbing oil, remove, drain and let the initial heat dissipate.
Make the egg mixture
- 1 Beat 6 eggs in a bowl and mix in the Parmigiano, 4 g salt, black pepper and 6 hand-torn basil leaves.
- 2 Fold in the slightly cooled eggplant and continue once evenly mixed.
Cook the first side
- 1 Heat 10 ml extra virgin olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat, pour in the egg mixture and neaten the edges.
- 2 When the edges begin to set, lower the heat, cover and cook.
Ready when
Continue when the surface is partly set and the frittata moves as a single piece when the pan is shaken.
Flip onto a plate and cook the other side
- 1 Cover the pan with a flat plate larger than the pan, then turn both over decisively to transfer the frittata onto the plate.
- 2 Slide it back into the pan and cook the other side for 2–3 minutes.
Caution
It is ready when springy to the touch and set through the center.
About this dish
Eggplant frittata is summer home cooking in Naples and across southern Italy. Eggplants dominate summer kitchen gardens, and southern households have passed down the practice of shallow-frying them to absorb oil before combining them with eggs.
As an informal second course that can make a meal on its own, it appears at lunch or a light dinner. Besides slicing it freshly cooked, the tradition of cooling it to room temperature and putting it in a panino to carry to the seaside or fields remains strong.
Still made repeatedly as a household summer staple, it also appears on trattorias’ daily menus. It is a characteristically southern Italian dish that spares no care with ordinary eggplant and eggs.
Bring the full course home next weekend.
Bring every dish to the table at its best.
Choose the dishes you want to cook, and Chef Authen handles the shopping list and the day-of schedule. The Tabelia app turns everything from starter to main into one coordinated course in your kitchen.
- One shopping listBuilt automatically from your menu and any substitutions, ready to check off.
- One timelineEvery dish’s waiting and cooking time combined into a single schedule.
- Answers beyond the recipeFrom judging the heat to adapting on the fly, Chef Authen answers with concrete criteria, not guesses.