One of the best dishes for fall is eggplant Parmesan
.It's a tasty dish, well loved on both sides of the Atlantic yet somehow it loses in translation here
.However there's a new way to take that casserole from soggy to super. It's just rethinking the eggplant in a more traditional way.
Julia Moskin tackled this in yesterday's New York Times food section. Eggplant Parmesan has always been a dinner favorite both in the US and in Italy. Unfortunately the American version is as delicious as its' Italian cousin. This is due in part to the way we love our slices of eggplant. They have to be dipped in egg first and then heavily crusted with bread crumbs. This method is fine if you're having them as "poor man's oysters" with a squeeze of lemon on the side or maybe a drizzle of
.aioli Yet to layer these oil rich slices under layers of tomato
sauce and melted mozzarella is not good. It bakes into a mush as the sauce seeps into the slices ad turns the whole dish into flavorful sludge. People will eat it, whether at home or in a
restaurant but it's still not the best. Luckily it was the famed French chef Jacques Pepin and his mother who inspired Ms.
Moskin. Start off with the eggplant. Don't get those whopping deep purple ones. Stick with
delicately striped Japanese ones. These make the best for slicing and frying. Also forget about individual slices. Think fans. Cut one into a fan and flatten out with your palms. Doing this expels any liquid which makes for a crisper texture and much better for pan frying.
Here's the hard part. Changing up both the batter and the sauce. Mix the heavy breadcrumbs. Use Madame Pepin's recipe for
aubergine beignets which is just dipping the fans in a mixture of water and flour. If you still want the crunch of bread crumbs, then use the feather light
panko ones. Fry in vegetable oil or extra virgin olive oil. (If you want
just serve the fried eggplant on its' own) next is the sauce. Ms/ Moskin looks to
shakshura, the North African egg dish with a tomato sauce. She uses a simple tomato sauce
, preferably homemade. A canned sauce can be used as well, however one made with late season tomatoes is much more delicious. The next step is adding packaged mozzarella, shredded or diced
.Place the cheese in evenly spaced piles in the bubbling sauce so that they're not so close and melt together
.It may have to be done in two batches. It's then
placing a spoonful of the sauce either on top or alongside the eggplant. Top with the mozzarella, lifting it out with a slotted spoon. Decorate with fresh herbs.
and serve. This is the closest to Italian style.
Eggplant Parmesan can be made better the Italian way. It's a
geat way of
reimagining a classic dish. Try it for a tasty change of pace.
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