Grilled Aubergine Parmigiana

SecondiSep 02 20131 Comment

parmiMelanzGrill

Difficulty:Difficult  Time:Long

INGREDIENTS (x4 persons)

  • - 4 big long purple aubergines
  • - 200 g mozzarella, in small cubes
  • - 300 ml tomato sauce*
  • - extra virgin olive oil
  • - salt/pepper
  • - 3 large handfuls of grated Parmesan
  • - 2 handfuls of basil leaves
  • - oregano
  • - 1 handful or plain breadcrumbs

WHAT TO DO:

  • 1. Remove some stripes off the aubergine skin. Then cut them in about 1/2 cm slices. Grill them in a hot griddle, non-sticky pan.
  • 2. In the meanwhile heat up the oven to 180°C.
  • 3. Pour a few tablespoons of tomato sauce on the bottom of an oiled baking dish and put down the grilled aubergines to make a layer. On top of the aubergines slices put some mozzarella cubes, a teaspoon of Parmesan, a pinch of salt and pepper, and 1-2 leaves of basil. When you have done this, repeat the process until you have multiple layers filling up the dish. On the last layer add some breadcrumbs, grated Parmesan, olive oil, and oregano.
  • 4. Cook au gratin (grill option in the oven) until crusty.
  • * For the tomato sauce see correspondent recipe.

TIPS & TRICKS:

  • - To grill the aubergine, you can alternatively use a deep saucepan. Make sure you grease the pan with a few drops of olive oil before you start grilling.
  • - It is better to use a hard mozzarella. This will work nicely with your local brand of mozzarella cubes for pizza.
  • - If you cannot find plain breadcrumbs at your local supermarket, heat up a few slices of left over white bread slices into a pre-heated oven. The bread shouldn’t burn though! When ready and cooled down, crumble them in a mixer into rough small crumbs. If you make a lot of breadcrumbs yourself, keep them in a sealed box or bag for later use.
  • - You can substitute the tomato sauce with a few round tomatoes . Make sure they are sweet and savoury, and finely chop them into small cubes before putting them in the dish. Discard the seeds in excess.
  • - If you think the aubergines might be bitter, leave them sliced with some sea salt under a weight (such as under a bowl filled up with water) for about 10-15 minutes. Then rinse the aubergines under running water and dry with a kitchen towel. They should have lost some bitterness this way.
  • - This is a another version of the traditional Parmigiana recipe which is normally done with fried aubergine. Enjoy it when you want to get something nice without feeling guilty about calories!