Back in May I made some eggplant parmesan from scratch. I was going to post about it here on oppo the day I made it, but I had a few too many adult beverages while I made it to write it up that day. Looking back through my photos, I came across the pictures I took, I figured I might as well post it now.
First step is to gather the supplies and decide what you’re drinking. In my case, I went for one of my favorite cooking drinks, mimosas made with Lamarca Prosecco.
The ingredient for the sauce, my family calls it gravy so if you see it used that’s why, and meat:
As for the rest, you need two eggplants, mozzarella cheese, bread crumbs, and some eggs.
Now the first step is to get the meat cooking.
While the meat cooks, I like to get my gravy started.
You want to cook the gravy for at least 30 minutes before the meat is added to it. I’m not sure if there is a reason or it’s just the way we’ve always made it. This is my grandmother’s recipe, so it has been refined over time.
The meatballs and sausage are somewhat cooked, and the gravy is nice and hot, it’s time to combine the two.
I like to let it all cook for a least 3.5 hours. Half an hour with no meat, and the final three with all the meat.
Since that’s a lot of time might as well go ahead and get some dishes out of the way.
Now, time to prepare my aubergines.
The recipe I use for my eggplant parmesan is loosely based on the recipe from this book.
The first step is obvious, cut those mofos up.
Once they’re all cut, lay them on wax paper and sprinkle them with salt and let sit for 45 minutes.
After 45 minutes you should see a dark liquid on top of the sliced eggplants. This is good, that liquid is bitter and, consequently, makes the eggplants less bitter.
Now it’s time to wash and dry the eggplant to get off that bitter liquid.
Oh shit, I’m out of Prosecco!
Now it’s time to bread them all. I dip them in egg and then bread crumbs, I know the recipe says flour but in my mind this is the way eggplant parmesan is supposed to be.
Once breaded it’s time to cook. I fry them in olive oil for three minutes on each side. I try to make them the same thickness so they all fry the same. I find the three minutes per side, as the book, recommended is just about perfect.
As you can see I switched to beer after I ran out of Prosecco.
Once all the eggplant is cooked, and your sauce has spent the requisite 3.5 hours on the stove, it’s time to assemble the eggplant parmesan.
I start with a layer of eggplant on the bottom, then a layer of sauce, then a layer of mozzarella cheese until the dish is full.
Cover it in foil and pop it in the oven at 375°F for 45 minutes to an hour.
While it cooks, you might as well get some things out of the way.
Like wrapping up the leftover meat, you didn’t spend half the day cooking for only one meal.
Doing the dishes, again.
After that 45 minutes to an hour has elapsed, it’s time to take it out of the oven.
Pour yourself some wine.
Then dig in.
