Aubergine parmigiana

[midnightmoon8]

How does one make a tasty aubergine parmigiana please? I've tried various recipes over the years but it always turns out bland. Where am I going wrong?!

I think it's all in the tomato sauce - I fry off some chopped garlic, then add passata to it, some dried 'Italian herbs', fresh basil, a pinch of cayenne, pinch of sugar, salt to taste, then reduce it by about a third before adding it to the dish. Sometimes I put parmesan in the sauce, too. If the sauce is right, the dish comes out right.

I love this, but it takes ages to make so I rarely bother! My tips-

• Salt the aubergines. It really does make a difference to their texture, even if you we no longer need to get the bitterness out of them

• cook down the tomato sauce for ages till it's really rich and jammy

• more cheese than is probably advisable

• cook in a wide shallow dish, not a small deep one, so you get more of the crunchy top.

You have to basically completely cook the aubergines before they go into the dish. Fry the hell out of them with a good glug of oil basically.

Pay particular attention to the aubergines before assembling. Cook them first, but they won't cook properly without lots of olive oil. Chop them into slices and mix well in a bowl with oil. Griddle them in a pan or even on a BBQ (prepare for your kitchen to get smoked out) or a cheats way which has also worked well for me is bake in the oven on the hottest temperature your oven will go to. Space them out on baking sheets so they don't steam.

My Greek friend did say that our aubergines are rubbish, so you need to char/smoke them at the hottest heat you can to get flavour.

Salt the sliced aubergine slices for at least half an hour and then lightly brush with oil and cook on a griddle pan til they are nearly cooked.

For the tomato sauce using a mirepoix with a pepper, and I always use anchovies and fennel seeds as well as garlic and herbs.

Layer the sauce, griddled aubergines, breadcrumbs and parmesan combined and then mozzarella and repeat til all used, finishing with mozzarella. Bake til top is golden and crispy.

Our favourite no fry version. It takes me much longer than stated in the recipe though.

www.allrecipes.com/recipe/25321/eggplant-parmesan-ii/

Saw this in active and thought it was in the baby names forum for a moment there. Lovely name for a baby girl, OP

This is the recipe you want, OP. It is delicious.

www.google.com/amp/s/www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/roasted-eggplant-parmesan-7569918.amp

Salt, that's the secret!

I’ve a recipe where, after you salt the aubergines, you dip in flour then in beaten egg (yes, in this order) and then fry them. It makes it very rich but delicious. I also add a dash of red wine vinegar to the tomato sauce, and a pinch of sugar or teaspoon of honey.

Mmmm I want some now. Making me think of this and all the lovely meals I used to cook before fussy kids took over my life!

Definitely sweeten the sauce a little - I use balsamic and as above, reduce it right down so it’s very rich.

I love aubergine parmigiana; I’d eat it all the time but it’s SO fattening. I’m actually hungry for it right now

I use anchovies in the tomato sauce.

@ValerieMorghulis

Definitely sweeten the sauce a little - I use balsamic and as above, reduce it right down so it’s very rich.

I love aubergine parmigiana; I’d eat it all the time but it’s SO fattening. I’m actually hungry for it right now

Not sure it's hugely fattening.

I've made one today, 4 aubergines, slow cooked tomato sauce, 2 mozzarella balls, 2tbsp of Parmesan, 3/4 tbsp oil and I think the whole dish works out at about 1300-1500 calories. It makes four portions.