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Italian: Eggplant Parmigiana

Source of Recipe

Tony Nitti


Recipe Link: www.tonynitti.com/tony.html

List of Ingredients

2 Medium eggplants
Salt
Olive oil and butter mixed for frying
Flour
Marinara Sauce *

fresh or dried Basil
fresh Italian Parsley chopped finely
grated Mozzarella cheese
grated Romano cheese


Recipe

Wash and trim the top and bottom of eggplants and slice about 1/3" thick. Sprinkle the slices with salt and place on table on paper towels topping with a paper towel, then weight with heavy bowl or books and let stand for at least 1/2 hour to extract the water from the eggplant. Prepare the Marinara Sauce while eggplant rests.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat then add about 1/2" of olive oil and 2 Tblsp. butter. While the oil/butter is heating, coat the eggplant slices lightly in flour seasoned with salt and peppe. Fry eggplant slices over a medium heat turning until both sides are brown. Remove and place on paper toweling. Add more oil and butter as needed.
Put some of the Marinara sauce at the bottom of a 9" x 13" oblong pan. Sprinkle with Romano and Mozzarella cheese. Then sprinkle with parsley and basil. Layer the pan with the fried eggplant slices then continue with a layer of sauce and cheese and herbs as before. Finish with the layer of sauce and cheese.
YIELD: Serves 6

*Marinara Sauce:
1 28 oz. can tomatoes or 12 fresh tomatoes
1 medium onion chopped
1 large clove garlic minced
1/3 C olive oil
1/4 tsp. Oregano
1/3 tsp. Basil or 3 fresh leaves, chopped
1 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. garlic salt
2 Tblsp Romano cheese
salt & pepper to taste


Heat large skillet, add olive oil when the oil is heated, add crushed garlic let the garlic sauté briefly then add the onion. Cook 2-3 minutes. Add tomatoes and all seasonings and cook until thick enough for pasta. A can of mushrooms can be added 5-10 minutes before the sauce is served.
* For a thicker heartier sauce, add 1 can of tomato paste.