Eggplant Parmigiana
Photo by Michael Piazza
Parmigiana in Southern Italy is a household tradition, but it never refers to chicken, always eggplant—unless you have some awesome zucchini in the summer. For this recipe, we use local eggplant from Wally’s Vegetables in Haverhill. Their Sicilian eggplants are almost seedless, round and deeply purple. So often, parmigiana has too much sauce and too much cheese and the eggplant is heavy and fried with breadcrumbs. Growing up we always just dunked it in a little egg wash and seasoned flour—nothing else—and fried it in olive oil. So that’s what we do here. Then we sprinkle in a few oven-dried plum tomatoes, fresh local mozzarella, our house-made marinara sauce, some grated Pecorino Romano and grated Grana Padano. Delicious served straight from the oven, but maybe even better reheated the next day.
Serves 6
10–12 plum tomatoes, sliced in half lengthwise
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, plus more for frying
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
¼ cup fresh herbs of your choice: oregano, parsley, basil or a mix of all three
6 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggplants, sliced thin into rounds
2 eggs, beaten with 2 tablespoons cold water
2 cups all-purpose flour, seasoned generously with salt and pepper
2 balls fresh local mozzarella
½ cup grated Grana Padano or Parmigiano Reggiano
½ cup grated Pecorino Romano
¼ cup toasted breadcrumbs, optional
Preheat oven to 275°F.
Toss the plum tomatoes in a bowl with 2 tablespoons olive oil, the vinegar, herbs and garlic. Season with salt and pepper and toss again, then lay the tomato halves face up on a baking sheet. Roast in the oven for about 90 minutes; set aside to cool.
Dip sliced eggplant into the egg wash and then dredge in the seasoned flour. Fry in hot olive oil until crispy; set aside to cool on a wire rack. Increase the oven temperature to 325°F.
In a casserole dish, build the parmigiana in four layers, starting with a thin layer of sauce and then adding eggplant, marinara sauce and grated cheese, alternating a layer of mozzarella with a layer of plum tomatoes (so it’s not too cheesy and there’s just a hint of roasted tomatoes). The final layer is mozzarella, more grated cheese and the homemade breadcrumbs for crunch, if you like.
Bake the casserole at 325°F for 30 minutes, remove from the oven and allow it to rest for 15 minutes before slicing. Serve hot. (Reheat slices of the parmigiana the next day in a hot oven with a spoonful of sauce on top until crispy at the edges and bubbly in the middle.)
This recipe appeared in the Fall 2024 issue as part of a larger story by Mario LaPosta.
