Eggplant Pecorino
I never met an Eggplant Parmigiana I didn’t love. Did you know there are different versions of Eggplant Parmigiana in Southern Italy? This authentic recipe is made as in Naples, without the bread crumbs or mozzarella. Skipping the breading makes for a lighter and healthier dish, where the flavor of the eggplant really pops, and the first bite of Pecorino Romano greets your taste buds with an unmistakable hello.
Ingredients
- 2 medium or large eggplants, about 20-24 slices
- Coarse sea salt for drawing out moisture
- 1-1 1/2 cups of flour
- 1/2 teaspoon of freshly ground black pepper
- 4-6 eggs, as needed Extra virgin olive oil, for frying (enough to coat the bottom of your pan)
For Assembly
- 1 1/2-2 cups of freshly grated Locatelli Pecorino Romano
- 2-3 large handfuls of fresh basil, sliced into chiffonade
- Marinara sauce, at least 4 cups
Instructions
- 30 minutes before you start cooking the eggplant, rinse and pat them dry. Slice off the root and stem ends. Slice the eggplants lengthwise into about 1/4” thick slices. Keeping all the slices of uniform thickness will allow them to cook at the same rate.
- “Sweat” the eggplants, or draw out their moisture by either placing a layer of eggplant in a colander or on top of wire rack placed over a sheet pan. Sprinkle a generous amount of coarse sea salt all over the eggplant slices, then add paper towel with another layer of eggplant slices and repeat. Salt those. Cover with paper towels and weigh those down with a heavy pot or cutting board and let them sit for 30 minutes.
- While the salted egg plants are resting, prepare your sauce if you haven’t made it in advance. The sauce can stay at room temperature for up to 2 hours.
- After 30 minutes, wipe all the eggplant down with paper towel to remove the salt and moisture, and scrape out seeds if there appear to be a great deal of them.
- Set up your egg and flour stations for dredging. Whisk and season the eggs with 1/4 cup of Locatelli Pecorino and 1/4 teaspoon of black pepper.
- Coat both sides of the the eggplant slices in egg, then flour (some people do the opposite) shaking off the excess flour.
- To fry the eggplant slices, heat your oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. You can use more than one pan to expedite cooking, otherwise fry in batches. When the oil is hot, add a single layer or eggplant and cook the first side for about 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Flip the eggplants and cook the second side for 2 minutes or until golden brown.
- Drain the fried eggplant on a platter or baking sheet lined with paper towels.
- Preheat your oven to 375°F in a large oven- safe casserole pan or baking pan, assemble the eggplant stacks by covering the bottom of the pan with about a cup of sauce. Blot the eggplant with paper towels to absorb the oil. Starting with the larger slices for the bottom of the stacks, add a single layer of eggplant, alternating top to tail from stack to stack. Dot about about 1/2 cup of sauce on top of the eggplant, followed by 1/2 cup of Locatelli, and a sprinkle of the chiffonade basil. Complete a second and third layer, with the slices getting smaller toward the top layer. Repeat the same pattern with each layer: 1/2 cup of sauce, 1/2 cup of cheese, and basil. The third, or top layer, should have sauce, cheese and basil.
- Bake, uncovered, for about 30-35 minutes or until it is golden brown on top. You may also broil for 2-3 minutes at the end. 11. Allow it to rest for about 10 minutes before slicing. Serve with extra sauce, cheese and fresh basil, if desired.
