Between Pandora's recipes and photographs of Melanzane alla parmigiana and
Suppli al telefono I have become very nostalgic about my year living in
Rome. This is where I first tasted these dishes as they should be prepared.
The eggplant parmesan I had tried in the U.S. was always heavy and greasy.
I made eggplant parmesan last night using Pandora's recipe with a few
alterations. It was absolutely delicious. On Friday I will make the suppli
using leftover risotto from Thurdays (planned) osso buco with risotto
Milanese. I've posted my recipe for osso buco (braised veal shanks with
capers, olives and gremolata) on RFC in the past if any one is interested.
Of all of the dishes I make it is the most requested recipe.

Here's how my trial of Pandora's recipe went. Basically her recipe
(converted to American weights and measure) called for
2 kg Eggplants (@ 4 lbs or 3 large)
750 ml Tomato sauce (3 cups) made with canned Italian tomatoes (I used a 28
ounce can of San Marzano tomatoes, 1 large spanish onion minced, 2 cloves
fresh garlic minced, minced fresh basil, dried oregano, dried thyme, minced
Italian parsley, EVOO, salt and pepper - Pandora's called for 2 medium
minced onions sauteed in EVOO, canned tomatoes, oregano and fresh basil)
Salt
Pepper
250 gr Mozzarella (8 oz but I used more, about 14 ounces of imported
buffalo mozarella, grated)
150 gr Reggiano Parmigiano cheese (a little less than 1/3 lb or 5 oz or 1
1/3 cups)
50 gr Bread crumb (@ 2 oz)
10-15 leaves Basil
Salt & Pepper
EVOO
Seeds oil (Grape seed, canola, or peanut oil)

I started out by washing (as I was not peeling them) then slicing the
eggplants into 1/4 inch (6 mm) rounds. I debated whether to salt them in
order to draw out the supposedly bitter juices. The necessity for this has
been questioned by several food writers particularly when dealing with young
ripe eggplants. I salted them anyway both in the interest of duplicating
Pandora's results and because removing excess juices might make them fry up
crisper. Any way it worked for me. In stead of a colander I placed them on
a rack over a baking sheet sprinkling each round with some kosher salt. I
let them drain for about two hours. They gave off a fair amount of liquid.

While eggplant drained I made the tomato sauce as mentioned above and
simmered for about 20 minutes. I wiped off the eggplant rounds and let them
rest on paper towels.

I fried the eggplant in batches in a large frying pan filled with about two
inches of a combination of peanut and canola oil over medium heat. I let
them cook about 4 to 6 minutes per batch or until the were a deep golden
brown. Drained again on paper towels and sprinkled with a bit of kosher
salt.

Pre-heated the oven to 350F and assembled the dish in a 9 x 11 inch pan as
described by Pandora. Basically spooned a thin layer of tomato sauce on the
bottom of the pan. Topped with a not over-lapping layer of the eggplant,
more tomato sauce, 1/3 of the grated mozzarella, 1/4th of the parmesan and
some minced fresh basil. The top layer contained no mozzarella or basil,
just tomato sauce, parmesan and the bread crumbs dotted with tiny pieces of
butter. Baked for about 30 minutes. The top wasn't getting crispy enough
so I turned on the broiler and finished with about 5 minutes under the
broiler. I let it rest for about ten minutes before serving. Ambrosia!!
But this serves a heck of a lot more people than six!

Thanks to Pandora for the inspiration and recipe.

Kate