Eggplant Parmigiana Recipe Pugliese Style ___

Eggplant Parmigiana Recipe Pugliese Style

Ingredients

For the Sauce:

  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 small onion, cut in 1/4 inch dice
  • 28 ounces crushed tomatoes
  • 4 fresh basil leaves, torn
  • 1 teaspoon salt

For the Parmigiana:

  • 1.5 cups all purpose flour
  • 1.25 cups grated Parmigiano cheese
  • 6 cloves garlic, minced
  • 0.5 cup finely minced fresh mint
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 large eggs, beaten
  • 1.5 cups plus 2 tablespoons, water
  • 2 large eggplant
  • olive oil for frying
  • 12 ounces fresh mozzarella, shredded
  • 12 slices, Mortadella

Directions

Tomato Sauce Preparation:

  1. In a saucepan, add 4 Tbs of EV olive oil and the chopped onion. Once the onion becomes translucent, add the tomato sauce.
  2. Stir and cook at low flame for about 15 minutes. Save for later.

Pastella/Parmigiana Preparation:

  1. In a bowl, add all the pastella ingredients and mix well. Add 1 cup of water and continue to mix. Add more water as needed to make the pastella rather liquid.
  2.  Peel the eggplants and slice them longway about 1/4 inch thick.
  3. Dip the slices of eggplant in the pastella and fry them in olive oil.
  4. Once they turn golden, remove them from the oil and remove any excess oil with paper towels. Fry the rest of the slices of eggplant.
  5. Take a deep oven pan and coat the bottom with a generous coating of the tomato sauce.
  6. Deposit one layer of the eggplants to cover the entire bottom.
  7. Add a thin coating of tomato sauce on each slice of eggplant followed by a sprinkle of Parmigiano cheese and mozzarella cubes.
  8. Cover the entire surface with a layer of Mortadella.
  9. Repeat the layering process until you reach the top of the pan.
  10. The last layer of eggplants should be covered with a generous coating of tomato sauce and Parmigiano and finally with whole slices of mozzarella.
  11. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 400F.
  12. Let it rest for about 10 minutes and serve.