Aubergine season is just around the corner. In summer, aubergines are simply part of our household. They really are one of our favourite vegetables. Aubergines always taste good, whether in a pasta sauce, puréed, grilled or in a delicious bake like parmigiana di melanzane.
Melanzane alla parmigiana is a real classic of Italian cuisine, and there are various versions of it. The basic ingredient – aubergines (Italian: melanzane) – always stays the same, though. Depending on the recipe, they are first deep-fried, baked or pan-fried before being layered with a tomato sugo, mozzarella and Parmesan.
No matter which version it is – melanzane alla parmigiana is always absolutely delicious!
I like to serve this dish with a simple rocket salad. But it can also be served as a side dish with grilled meat or with crusty white bread.
This dish also tastes very good reheated, which makes it perfect if you want to prepare something flavourful in advance.
To make this dish, you have to pre-cook the aubergines. I don't drain them beforehand, but if you like, you can salt them lightly and let them drain in a sieve for about 20 minutes.
I roast the aubergines in the oven for about 30 minutes until they are golden brown and develop a lovely aroma. Beforehand, I only brush them with a little olive oil and season them with salt and pepper. That's how my family and I like them best.
While the aubergines are in the oven, I prepare a tasty tomato sauce. Then you layer the grilled aubergine slices, the sauce, the diced mozzarella and the Parmesan alternately and pop the whole thing back in the oven for another half hour.
The result is simply delicious.
Parmigiana di melanzane
- Preparation5 min
- Cooking time30 min
- Baking time30 min
- Total1 hr 5 min
- Calories375kcal
- Carbohydrates20gof which sugars 13 g
- Protein19g
- Fat22gof which saturated 9 g
- Fibre8g
per serving
Ingredients
- 800 gr aubergines (approx. 4 of equal size)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1 onion (finely chopped)
- 2 cloves of garlic (pressed)
- 600 ml tomatoes (passata)
- 400 gr tomatoes (chopped)
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 2 tsp herbes de Provence
- 1-2 toothpicks of herb oil to taste (basil, marjoram, rosemary, thyme, oregano)
- 200 gr mozzarella (cut into small cubes)
- 75 gr Parmesan (grated)
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees top/bottom heat.
- Wash and trim the aubergines and cut them lengthways into slices about 0.5 cm thick. Brush the aubergine slices with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and place them on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
- Bake the aubergines in the preheated oven for 30 min.
- Meanwhile, prepare the tomato sauce. To do this, finely chop the onions and press the garlic. Heat the olive oil in a large pan, add the chopped onions and the garlic and sweat them. Add the tomato purée, the passata and the chopped tomatoes. Season with 1 tsp salt, a little pepper and herbes de Provence. Now let the sauce simmer until the aubergines come out of the oven.
- If you like, refine it with 1-2 toothpicks each of herb oils such as basil, marjoram, rosemary, thyme and oregano oil, or use a few fresh herbs. If you want, you can also add a little pepper oil to create a certain spiciness.
- Drain the mozzarella well and cut it into small cubes.
- Preheat the oven again to 200 degrees top/bottom heat.
- Now the parmigiana is layered. To do this, spread 2 tbsp tomato sauce over the bottom of a large gratin dish. Then lay out the first layer of aubergine slices. Sprinkle with a little Parmesan and scatter over a few mozzarella cubes. Now keep adding tomato sauce, aubergines, Parmesan and mozzarella to the gratin dish in alternating layers until all the ingredients are used up. Finish the last layer with mozzarella and Parmesan.
- Now bake the parmigiana for about 30 min. in the middle of the preheated oven until the bake is nicely golden brown. Then take it out, let it rest for 5 min. and serve on four plates. Crusty white bread goes well with it.
Notes
Pepper oil is one of the secret ingredients in my kitchen. Thanks to the oil's warm, spicy aroma, the individual flavours of the dishes come through much better and every bite becomes a culinary experience.
Cooking with essential oils
How to dose essential oils (toothpick method!), when to add them and what to look out for — it is all in the guide.
Have you made this recipe? Tag @oatoclock_blog on Instagram so we can see the result.
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