Most of the civilized western world knows what this dish is all about. Especially here in America. It is a popular one. Found on the menu of many a restaurant. Not only Italian eaterys. Although they get the credit for the dish. People make it all the time at home. It can be time consuming. Or you can do it the quick way by eliminating the need to make a home made tomato sauce. I do it both ways and I am satisfied with either.
There are plenty of jar sauces on the store shelves today. So take your pick. We usually all have a favorite. So use that one. I like Classico with basil. I stay away from those that contain meat. For no reason, other than that. No reason. This is basicly a vegetarian dish that my mother used to make on a friday night. In my house we adhered to the, no meat on friday dogma of the Roman Catholic faith. I don't have a photo so use your imagination. We all pretty much know what the finished product looks like.
I have been told many times by non Italians. Although not as much now as years ago." I followed your recipe but it doesn't taste the same". After I ask some questions I find out why. There are certain ingredents in cooking that can not be substituted in kind and quality. Especially when it comes to southern Italian cooking. Will you be held hostage to that. I don't think so, but don't expect great results. One of them is good olive oil and the other is good cheese. Especially grated cheese. The very finest can be bought on most house hold budgets. As a matter of fact it is more economical in the long run.
Ok so here we go. With this recipe I will not list the amounts of the ingredients used because if you are reading this blog. You pretty much know what you are doing and I don't intend to teach to the lowest level.
Eggplants: the large ones
Try to pick out ones of the same size and shape
Locatelli Pecorino Romano: grating cheese.
If you can not get that use one of the American brands of Pecorino Romano cheese. The cheese industry has come a long way from cheddar. They are good cheeses and come close to the imported brands. I still stick to Locatelli, a brand named after a town in Italy where it is made.
Olive oil:
no need for virgin olive oil
but if that is what you have then use it, che peccato
Tomato sauce:
as I indicated but did not recommend, a good jar sauce is ok, eh!
Italian sausage: Johnson will do just fine if you are hard pressed to get home made Italian sausage. What can you do? You can't have everything.
Canola oil or vegetable oil.
Mozzarella:
Poly O or Sorrento:
try to use part skim. It is better for you.
Italian flavored bread crumbs:
Progresso or 3 C and Colonna brands.
try your best.
Start by slicing off the outside peel. But do not take all the peel off. Slicing off the peel and leaving the next with the peel . Ending up with a stripe design. In other words leave the peel on. From the bottom of the eggplant slice it in 3/4 inch slices. Then soak them in cold salted water for about one hour or two. Put a few drops of lemon juice in the water so the eggplant does not turn black.
This is the end of Part 1 of Francie's Fancy Eggplant Parmigiana
No comments:
Post a Comment