• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

By Root 4195 0

garlic and olive oil in a skillet or saute pan, and turn on the heat to medium. Cook the garlic, stirring, until it becomes colored a pale gold. Remove it, add the eggplant, and turn the heat up to medium high. At first, when the eggplant soaks up all the oil, turn it frequently. When the heat causes it to discharge the oil, lower the flame to medium again. When the eggplant has cooked for about 15 minutes, add the parsley and pepper. Toss thoroughly and continue to cook another 20 minutes or so, until the eggplant feels very tender when prodded with a fork. Taste and correct for salt. Transfer to a serving platter, using a slotted spoon or spatula.

Sautéed Baby Eggplant Halves with Mozzarella

THE MOST SUITABLE eggplants for this recipe are the sweet, skinny ones not much larger than zucchini, but not miniature. They may be either the purple or white variety.

For 8 servings

8 thin, long “baby” eggplants

2 teaspoons garlic chopped very fine

2 tablespoons parsley chopped very fine

Salt

Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill

¼ cup unflavored bread crumbs, lightly toasted

⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil

½ pound mozzarella, preferably buffalo-milk mozzarella, sliced no thicker than ¼ inch

1. Trim the eggplants’ green tops away, wash them in cold water, and split them lengthwise in two. Score the eggplant flesh in a cross-hatched pattern, cutting it deeply, while being careful not to pierce the skin.

2. Choose a saute pan large enough to accommodate all the eggplant halves without overlapping. If you need 2 pans, increase the olive oil to ½ cup. Place the eggplants in the pan, skin side down, cross-hatched side facing up.

3. Put the garlic, parsley, salt, pepper, bread crumbs, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a small bowl and mix well to combine the ingredients uniformly. Spoon the mixture over the eggplant halves, pressing it into and in between the cuts.

4. Pour the remaining olive oil in a thin stream, partly over the eggplants, partly directly into the pan. Cover, turn on the heat to medium low, and cook until the eggplant feels very tender when prodded with a fork, 20 or more minutes. Blanket each eggplant half with a layer of sliced mozzarella, turn up the heat to medium, cover the pan again, and cook until the mozzarella has melted.

Eggplant Patties with Parsley, Garlic, and Parmesan

THE TENDER FLESH of baked eggplant is chopped and mixed with bread crumbs, parsley, garlic, egg, and Parmesan to form patties. They are floured and browned in hot oil, and they taste very, very good.

For 4 to 6 servings

About 2 pounds eggplant

⅓ cup unflavored bread crumbs, lightly toasted

3 tablespoons parsley chopped very fine

2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped very fine

1 egg

3 tablespoons freshly grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese

Salt

Black pepper, ground fresh from the mill

Vegetable oil

Flour, spread on a plate

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. When the oven is hot, wash the eggplants, keeping them whole and untrimmed. Place them on the uppermost rack of the preheated oven, with a baking pan on a lower rack to collect any drippings. Bake until tender, when a toothpick will penetrate them without resistance, about 40 minutes, depending on their size.

3. Take the eggplants out of the oven and as soon as they are cool enough to handle, peel them, and cut them into several large pieces. Put the pieces in a pasta colander set over a deep dish. The eggplant should shed most of its liquid, a process that should take about 15 minutes and one which you can encourage by gently squeezing the pieces.

4. Chop the eggplant flesh very fine and combine it in a bowl with the bread crumbs, parsley, garlic, egg, grated Parmesan, salt, and pepper. Mix thoroughly to obtain a uniform blend of ingredients. Taste and correct for salt and pepper. Shape the mixture with your hands into a number of patties about 2 inches in diameter and ½ inch thick, spreading them out on the counter or on a platter.

5. Pour enough vegetable oil into a frying pan to come ½ inch up the sides, and turn on the heat to high. When the oil is very hot, turn