Parmigiana di melanzane ( Baked aubergine, tomato and cheese gratin)



Wanted to make something different with my eggplant. Usually I make “भारता ”.
Recently I got gifted with a book on international cooking by Karen Anand. So decided to try this simple recipe, making changes to suit my needs. It turned out really well, so here it is...


Ingredients:

  • ½ eggplant
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp salt


  • Cheese
  • 1 tsp mixed herbs
  • 1 tbsp bread crumbs

Italian tomato sauce
  • 1 cup tomato puree
  • 3 tbsp chopped garlic
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • Pinch of oregano
  • 2 basil leaves

Method:
  • Blanch, skin, chop & puree tomatoes. I just chopped & pureed tomatoes to form chunky tomato puree.
  • Cook the puree in a pan ,till the puree becomes thick. It took about 5 min.
  • Add sugar , salt, pepper, oregano & chopped basil
  • Remove from the gas.
  • Heat olive oil in small pan.
  • Fry garlic till its golden brown.. I absolutely love the aroma of garlic cooking in olive oil. Everyone in the house knows.. what you are cooking atleast smells good ;)
  • Pour the tempering into tomato sauce. Stir well
  • Your Italian tomato sauce is ready

Its an amazing sauce. You can use it for pastas, pizza or just serve as accompaniment to fritters. Trust me,, you are gonna love this sauce which is sweet & sour with garlicy bits.

  • Season the eggplant with salt & shallow fry in olive oil.
  • Layer eggplant, tomato sauce & cheese, finishing off with Cheese & herbed breadcrumbs on the top.

Ideally, Mozzarella would be best for this gratin, but I didn’t have mozzarella. So I used 2 cheese slices. I would insist to use Mozzarella.

  • Bake in oven at 120 C for 10 mins or till cheese bubbles
  • Serve hot with Baguette.

I am very very glad with this dish. It’s a keeper, gonna be baked lots more times in my kitchen




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Cashew Coffee Cake

Masala paneer wheels

Mango Masti