Parmigiana di melanzane (eggplant parmigiana)

Wash the eggplants, trim them and cut them into slices half a centimeter thick. You can make the slices crosswise or lengthwise, depending on the mold you are going to use, because you can prepare the eggplant parmesan in individual molds or make it in a wide dish to distribute later.

The original recipe for Melanzane alla parmigiana calls for breading and frying the eggplant, but we lighten the dish by baking or grilling it. If you want to bake it in the oven, as in my case, after cutting the eggplant slices, salt them and place them in the oven tray with a few drops of olive oil. Bake at 180º C until they are tender and lightly browned.

While the eggplants are cooking we prepare the tomato sauce. We put the crushed tomato in a pan, with a little olive oil, five or six fresh basil leaves, salt to taste (to remove the acidity, instead of sugar we put water). Sauté over high heat for no more than ten minutes.

Grate the parmesan and take the package of sheep cheese slices and begin to assemble the dish, which is like a lasagna.

We start with a tomato base, and this is how we do it. Next, put a layer of eggplant slices overlapping each other, sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan, cover with slices of cheese, cooked ham and then a layer of tomato, then start again with the eggplant, Parmesan, cheese, ham and tomato.

Between each layer you can also put some basil leaves, and to finish the dish finish with the slices of eggplant covered with tomato and on top of this a little parmesan and cheese to gratin.

Bake in a preheated oven at 180º C with the broiler on for about half an hour, when the surface has browned, you can remove the Melanzane alla parmigiana and serve sprinkling a little oregano and decorating with some fresh basil leaves.

buon appetito! 🤌🏼