Baked eggplants with cheese and mushrooms, an Italian classic reinvented
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Total: 1 h 10 min Diners: 4
The classic eggplant parmigiana – parmigiana di melanzane, in Italian – is a typical starter throughout the country of the boot. We are talking, in Romano Palladino, about a baked eggplant millefeuille with cheese and tomato sauce but that takes on a different dimension because of the treatment of the different ingredients.
Ingredients
Eggplants, 2 Sliced mushroom, 200 g Grated Manchego cheese, 70 g Olive oil for frying, c/s Salt and black pepper, c/s Mozzarella, 250 g Basil, a bunch
For the fried tomato:
Crushed tomato, 700 g Garlic, 1 clove Onion, 1 Extra virgin olive oil, 2 tablespoons Salt and black pepper, c/s
How to make baked eggplants with cheese and mushrooms
They can be made more or less light because although tradition dictates that the eggplant parmigiana have to be fried we can make them grilled. What is indisputable is that the fried tomato that we use for the task must be of a wonderful quality, because it will be a key piece in the result. If you make it homemade, passata di pomodoro style, it will be without onion or almost no additives and over very low heat but you can also add that well poached onion that we like in Spain or even that teaspoon of sugar for which an Italian would cut our heads off. You see, in Italy you never add sugar to fried tomato.
These baked eggplants differ from the classic parmigiana in that we have also added mushrooms but you can go out of there and throw in zucchini, asparagus, pumpkin or almost any vegetable you have in the fridge. Infinite possibilities!
Step 1
The first thing to do is to make the tomato sauce for our parmigiana. To do this, in a saucepan we will put the two tablespoons of oil and fry the garlic whole, over low heat until golden brown. Once it is golden brown, add the finely chopped onion, with a pinch of salt, and let it fry over medium-low heat for about 10 minutes until tender. At this moment we will add the crushed tomato and we will let everything cook together, at minimum heat, for 30 minutes. At the last moment we will add some chopped fresh basil and we will add salt and black pepper.
Step 2
While the tomato is cooking we can prepare the eggplants, slicing them thinly, about 4mm thick, lengthwise. To remove the bitterness we will clean them with a little water, put them on a strainer and add coarse salt, leaving them on the strainer for 30 minutes, changing their direction once in between.
Step 3
After this time, clean the eggplants well and dry them thoroughly. Prepare a frying pan with plenty of hot oil and fry the eggplants little by little until golden brown. Remove them to a paper towel to absorb the excess oil.
Step 4
We will also do the same with the mushrooms but we will simply pass them through the griddle over high heat to brown them.
Step 5
It’s time to assemble our parmigiana in a baking dish, preheated to 200ºC. We will put a bottom layer of tomato sauce, on top the eggplant and mushroom, a layer of mozzarella and again the same order. Finishing on top with grated manchego cheese.
Step 6
Bake for 30 minutes until golden brown on top. Serve with a few basil leaves to finish that will bring us freshness.
Tips and suggestions
You can prepare your eggplants in advance, just put them in the oven to heat them up and gratinate them. Another good idea is always to spice up the tomato sauce, to add different nuances and flavors, as it can practically accept anything: thyme, rosemary, cumin…even a pinch of curry!
The eggplants, if you want to make things lighter, could be marked on the griddle like mushrooms or even cooked in the oven, to save oil and the only thing to keep in mind for this preparation is that it is necessary to cook the Vegetable Recipes before putting them in the millefeuille because otherwise they will release their water in the oven and everything will be slightly watery.
