I love this recipe for Eggplant Parm. In fact, I crave it often.
Eating it makes me feel like I am at an Italian relative’s house (which I don’t have) or in the North End of Boston (which I don’t get to as often as I would like). Since my only option for authentic Italian is my kitchen, a treasure this recipe, which was hastily jotted down as one of the Soprano stars gave it in an interview.
I don’t know his name but it was this guy:
First, you make your sauce. This is such a purist sauce and it is fantastic for EVERYTHING. And I really do make it to taste every time, these are just approximations (again, it was hastily jotted down). If it ever tastes too acidic, feel free to add sugar, 1 teaspoonful at a time.
Tomato Sauce:
4 T. Olive Oil
3-4 cloves of garlic
Crushed tomotoes (3 20 oz. cans)
S&P to taste
1 T. Oregano
3-4 T. Basil (fresh is best, but dried will do, use about half the amount)
3-4 cloves of garlic
Crushed tomotoes (3 20 oz. cans)
S&P to taste
1 T. Oregano
3-4 T. Basil (fresh is best, but dried will do, use about half the amount)
Other ingredients are:
Eggplant
2 Eggs
Splash of Milk
Seasoned Breadcrumbs
S&P
Fresh Mozzarella, sliced
2 Eggs
Splash of Milk
Seasoned Breadcrumbs
S&P
Fresh Mozzarella, sliced
To make the Eggplant:
This is just your basic breaded & fried assembly. Lay out a bowl/tray of each:
Egg mixed with Milk
Seasoned Bread Crumbs
Get a large pan hot with 4 T. olive oil. Slice the egg plant thin (1/2 to 1 inch), dip it in the eggs & milk then breadcrumbs, and fry.
Watch closely, and flip after a few minutes or golden brown. When cooked on both sides, place on plate with paper towel and
sprinkle with kosher salt. Continue with all, being careful to add more oil if needed and scrape out burned bread crumbs if possible.
My sister likes this dish after you have salted the eggplant and let it drain in a collander for 1/2 hour or so to get rid of excess water, but I don’t notice the difference that much. If you think you would like the texture of the eggplant better (for her, it was a revelation and made her like Eggplant Parm) give it a try.
To assemble, simply layer sauce, eggplant, sauce, eggplant in a casserole pan. Then lay the sliced buffalo mozzarella (or any fresh ball mozzarella)
on top to melt and turn cheesy gooey.
It really is a testament to simple ingredients, because the dish is so easy and so delicious. Until we all get to vacation together in Italy,
Buon Appetito!!
1 Comment
Sarah Bedinghaus
February 6, 2013 at 2:03 pmKatie, this was so amazing! I miss the old Eggplant parm back at Lower and crave it all the time, only to never have the opportunity to enjoy. This was the first of your recipes I had to try and it was awesome. I made it with Heidi’s help on a Sunday afternoon ( I actually had two eggplants, so made more breading and made two small pans ) . Shortly after I assembled it Brian shared that he didn’t care for eggplant and it was totally his loss! I got to eat it for dinner for several nights. I’m going to make certain that I get a crusty loaf to make a sandwich out of the next tray!