TABELIAAUTHENTIC ITALIAN RECIPE
Authentic Melanzane alla Parmigiana
Salted eggplant, fried until tender and layered with tomato sauce, mozzarella and Parmigiano-Reggiano — a rich baked dish from Southern Italy.
AUTHENTICITY SCORE
Authenticity Score
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Ingredients (4 servings)
- Eggplants900 g
- Tomato passata700 ml
- Fior di latte mozzarella250 g
- Parmigiano Reggiano80 g
- Fresh basil12
- Garlic1 clove
- Frying oil1000 ml
- Extra virgin olive oil30 ml
- Salt14 g
Method
Draw out the eggplant’s moisture
Trim the tops from 900g eggplant and slice lengthwise 7mm thick. Sprinkle with 10g salt, arrange in a colander and let stand for 40 minutes, until beads of moisture appear on the surface and the slices bend softly.
Prepare the cheese and aromatics
Cut 250g mozzarella into 1cm cubes and drain in a colander. Grate 80g Parmigiano-Reggiano. Lightly crush the garlic clove.
Make the tomato sauce
Heat the olive oil with the garlic over low heat. Once fragrant, add the passata, 4g salt and 4 basil leaves and simmer for 20 minutes, until slightly reduced and the acidity has mellowed. Remove the garlic.
Pat the eggplant dry
Rinse the eggplant briefly under running water and pat thoroughly dry with paper towel, until no surface moisture remains — this prevents the oil from spattering.
Fry the eggplant
Heat the frying oil to 170°C and fry the eggplant in batches. Fry both sides for 2–3 minutes until lightly golden and tender, then drain on a rack.
Layer the dish
In a baking dish, layer tomato sauce, eggplant, mozzarella, Parmigiano-Reggiano and basil. Repeat for about 3 layers, finishing with tomato sauce and Parmigiano-Reggiano.
Heat the oven
Preheat the oven to 190°C. The layers should reach evenly to the edges of the dish, with the cheese spread thinly on top.
Bake until golden
Bake at 190°C for 30 minutes, until the top is golden and the sauce bubbles lightly at the edges.
Rest before serving
Rest for 10 minutes, until the layers settle and the slices hold their shape when cut.
About this dish
Southern Italy’s summer markets pile high with glossy eggplant, ripe tomatoes and basil. Melanzane alla Parmigiana layers and bakes these seasonal ingredients together, and it’s loved above all around Campania and Sicily.
One theory traces the name to its use of Parmigiano; another says it comes from a Sicilian word for shutter slats, since the layered eggplant slices resemble the boards of a shutter. As the use of tomato and cheese spread through the 18th and 19th centuries, something close to today’s form took shape.
Though it contains no meat, it carries enough presence to appear on a festive table too. Vegetables, dairy and tomato sauce layered together symbolise the richness of southern Italian home cooking.
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