Italian eggplant casserole – Parmigiana di melanzane

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 2 m.-large eggplant(s)
• 2 m.-large tomato(s), fully ripe
• 2 eggs, size M
• 120 g Parmesan, freshly grated
• 250 g mozzarella, grated
• 6 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• Butter for the mold
• 4 tomatoes, fully ripe
• 2 medium-sized garlic cloves
• 1 small chili pepper(s), green, fresh or frozen
• 2 tsp chili flakes
• 2 tbsp Italian herbs, frozen or dried
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 200 g tomato juice
• 50 g tomato paste
• 4 tbsp fish stock
• n. B. Salt and pepper, freshly ground black pepper to taste
• e.g. chili flakes
• n. B. almond slivers

Instructions

Working time approx. 25 minutes; Rest time approx. 20 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 1 hour; Total time approx. 1 hour 45 minutes

A hearty casserole with tomato sauce and plenty of cheese. Served with ciabatta as a main course. Recipe from the Campania region of Italy.

Wash the aubergines, snip off both ends, and cut lengthwise into approximately 5mm thick slices. Salt both sides and let them stand in a stack for 20 minutes. Rinse thoroughly under running water and place on a fresh tea towel to dry, then cover with a second tea towel. After 15 minutes, fry in hot olive oil on both sides until light brown. In the meantime, wash the tomatoes, remove the stalks, peel, and quarter lengthwise, removing the green and white stems, deseeding and quartering the two large tomatoes. For the sauce, halve the ends of the garlic cloves, peel them, and press them dry with a garlic press. Heat the sunflower oil in a pan, add the tomatoes, garlic, hot pepper flakes, and mixed herbs, and fry for 3 minutes. Deglaze with the tomato juice and stir in the fish stock. Thicken the sauce slightly, season with salt and pepper, and set aside. Add the eggs to cold water, heat gently, and simmer for 8 minutes. Refresh in cold water and allow to cool completely. Peel (see note), cut crosswise into 5 mm thick slices, and set aside. Preheat the oven to 180 °C (bottom heat). Line a greased baking dish with half of the eggplant slices. Add half of the mozzarella and arrange the eggs and tomato pieces on top. Finish with the rest of the zucchini and the mozzarella. Pour in the sauce. Bake in the preheated oven at a medium heat for about 40 minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese 10 minutes before the end of baking and finish baking. Allow the casserole to cool to lukewarm, garnish with a pinch of chili flakes, and serve. Note: If you use eggs that are less than 5 days old, the shell will be very difficult to remove from the egg. It’s better to halve the egg in its shell and remove the halves with a teaspoon. To cut the eggs, dip the knife in cold water.