EGGPLANT PARMAGANA
(Entree)

This is without question, my favorite dish that my mother makes...my sister Maria's favorite too.
Most recipes for this dish call for breading the slices of eggplant. My mom never does that to hers, and they are intensely wonderful. The truth is, however, that even though I'm giving you her recipe, there is little chance that your end product will could turn out like hers. My sister and I have both tried to make this dish taste like my mother's, but for some reason it's never quite the same. I guess she adds a little mom-juice or something.

 

INGREDIENTS

* Olive Oil
* salt
* 2 regular sized eggplant
* sauce base (see prior recipes at bottom)
* Romano cheese
* fresh basil (optional)

First you have to slice the eggplant (into round disks), then you must drain them. Make a layer of these slices on a plate and sprinkle salt on them, then lay another layer of slices on top of the bottom layer, and salt them. Keep doing this until all of you eggplant is stacked and ready to drain. Sit a plate on top of these stacks, and something with a little weight to it on top of the plate - a pot, or even an iron will do just fine. They have to drain for two hours or more. If you haven't left the house to do other things, drain the water out of the bottom plate every once in a while.
Now you are going to fry the slices in olive oil. I would suggest using a Teflon coated pan, because you can get away with using less oil... eggplant tends to soak up the oil like a sponge. Once they are brown and well cooked, you are ready to ladle on the most important ingredient, the sauce.
Cover with Romano cheese, and if this turns out right, you will have the most incredibly delicious dish in the history of time.

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