My big brother's birthday is coming up - December 20th. He will be 39, and damn he is getting old. His birthday request this year was to share a meal with his family of our mutual favorite dish, eggplant parmigiana and asked for the family recipe.
In my mere 31 years (compared to his ancient 39), I have learned a thing or two about life. Most importantly, I have learned the delicious family secret, the prized heirloom eggplant parmigiana recipe passed down from our beloved Nana (Teresa Macaruso).
Well, I am not certain if I know her exact recipe - you see I only got to taste her eggplant parmigiana ONCE. I gobbled it all up in the airport around age 13 when I was headed back home to Texas. You better believe I have never forgotten how incredible that dish was. It was life changing.
Thankfully, I learned the secret recipes from (guess who?) my uncle George, and I have made a few tweaks of my own along the way. I have not yet made an EP as perfect as the one in my memory, but this recipe does the trick.
Ingredients:
2 large eggplants, washed, dried and sliced thin (SO THIN)
olive oil (or grapeseed if you're trying to be light)
flour
eggs
parmigiana cheese (grated) or pecorino romano
italian breadcrumbs
1 jar tomato sauce, marinara (Ragu works)
Supplies:
paper towels
frying pan
tongs
casserole dish
Directions:
1. In a shallow bowl, toss some flour, salt and pepper
2. In another shallow bowl, toss the italian breadcrumbs and some parmigiana cheese, mix until blended.
3. Add a couple eggs to yet another bowl, whisk together.
4. Slice the eggplant thin. No, thinner. Slice the eggplant SUPER thin and spread flat on paper-towel to rest and drain.
5. Heat a large frying pan on medium heat, add a layer of olive oil until the entire pan is coated 1/4 inch of oil.
6. Dredge the eggplant in flour, coating each side lightly.
7. Dip the flour-covered, super thin, eggplant slice in the egg, coating evenly on both sides.
8. Dip the flour-covered-eggy eggplant into the breadcrumb mixture, coating evenly.
9. Fry coated eggplants in oil, turning to crisp both sides.
10. Remove softened, crisped eggplant slice from oil and place on paper towels to drain. Eggplant should be golden brown. Repeat process until all eggplant are cooked.
11. Cover bottom of casserole dish in 1 layer of tomato sauce, then form eggplant slices into layer covering the entire sheet. Sprinkle parmigiana, and spread another layer of sauce. Repeat until complete, covering with cheese at the end.
12. Bake casserole for ~40 minutes at 400. Allow dish to rest before serving.
If my instructions weren't very clear, this youtube video of a Italian grandpa from Turino does a great job if you need more clarification! He adds mozzarella which looks amazing. Even if you perfectly understood my instructions, I promise you will enjoy watching this. https://youtu.be/rLZsKI8dcvo
Happy birthday, Patrick! YUM, enjoy. Send me pics, and invite me to dinner next time. Love you!
Love&Pasta,
Linda
