Quote:
Originally Posted by beppe
About Eggplant Parmigiana. In the course of time I developed a version of it that is both tasty and as lean as possible without loosing flavor.
I de-bitter the eggplants: cut them in 1 inch slices, salt them, organize them in layers in a bowl under a weight (a flat dish with something heavy in it). Let them stand on the counter for a few hours. I rinse them and wipe them dry with a towel. There is a variety of eggplants without seeds, that does not need the de-salting but just peeling. It is of lighter color. As I buy vegs from a local art dealer doubling as pusher, when I want them I just ask him those.
I grill the slices on a grill iron over the stove. And put them aside. I might freeze them for future use. You can find frozen grilled eggplants in stores in Italy.
When I prepare the parmigiana, I use a bottle of passata of good quality, cooking mozzarella cut in 1 inch slices and as much grated Parmesan as I will need (about 3 table spoons for each portion, at least. The more i use the tastier it comes out).
I make again layers. A spoonful of passata on the bottom of the pan, slices of eggplant, passata, parmesan, mozzarella, and so on depending on how much stuff I have and how big is the pan. On the top I put double parmesan. Oven at 185°C till nicely colored. It couyld be 30 minutes or so. When I do them I usually prepare 3 or 4 aluminum foil pans, cook them and freeze them for future use.
If I use frozen grilled eggplants, I use them as they are.
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is passata a tomato or bolognese type sauce? I won't touch any of the pre-prepared ones here in the US as they are full of either corn syrup or sugar. I've never figured out why people like so much sweet flavors in their food?
Quote:
Originally Posted by pilotbob
There is a recipe in the Eat to Live book, eggplant "rolls" or something. I never could get the rolls to stay as rolls. So I basically modified it to just layer the eggplant in a baking pan with tomato sauce, sliced onions, pepers and tomatos, lots of garlic and some peper for flavor... then bake it for an hour or so.
I also think using some diced eggplant in my vegetarian chili would make a nice "meat texture" like filling instead of it being mostly beans. I have yet to try it though. Perhaps I'll add some eggplant to the shopping list and give it a go.
BOb
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bulgur or wheat berries both make dandy meat substitutes in chili type dishes