This recipe is from meikepeters.com (which I somehow stumbled on when on the rabbit hole that is Google!) originally named 'Parmigiana di Melanzane' - layers of fried eggplant, mozzarella, and passata di pomodoro (which I had to Google what that even is, appears to be like tomato puree with no seeds or skins); sounds great, right? The pictures that accompanied the recipe sold it for me and I couldn't wait to make it - and you've heard me say before that I don't love eggplant but this is amazing. I now have a couple eggplant recipes that I love!
His recipe has lots of Italian words and ingredients, and some measurements that I had a hard time figuring out so I did what I do and adapted the recipe. I feel like this is one of those things, just like traditional lasagna, just wing the amounts! Click on the above link if you want to see the original recipe and beautiful pics, here is what I did:
- 2 eggplants, cut lengthwise into 1/4" slices
- sea salt
- 1 fresh mozzarella ball, chopped into small cubes
- olive oil
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 3 1/4 cups tomato sauce (called 'passata' in his recipe, see below for more info)
- large handful of basil, chopped
- pepper and salt
- vegetable oil for frying
- parmesan
1. Spread the eggplant slices on racks, generously sprinkle with salt and gently rub in, then flip and sprinkle the other side with salt. Let the eggplants sit for about 1 hour then rinse with cold water and pat dry with paper towels.
2. In a large pot, heat a splash of olive oil over medium heat, add the garlic and cook for about 2 minutes or until golden. Add the tomato puree and bring to a boil. Stir in the basil and season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove the sauce from the heat and set aside.
3. Preheat the oven to 400'F and grease a 12 x 8" baking dish with a little olive oil.
4. In a large heavy pan over high heat, heat enough vegetable oil to come up the side of the pan about 1/2". When the oil is sizzling hot, fry the eggplant slices in batches, arranging them side by side and turning them once, for about 30-60 seconds or until golden but not dark. Spread and drain the fried eggplant on paper towels and continue frying the remaining eggplant slices.
5. Arrange a layer of eggplant slices in the prepared baking dish, spreading them side by side, then season with a little salt and pepper, sprinkle with some of the mozzarella and parmesan, and drizzle with some of the sauce. Repeat to make more layers, about 4 total, finishing the last layer with cheese and sauce. Bake for about 40 minutes or until bubbly. Turn off the oven, tilt or open the oven door and let the lasagna sit in the oven for 10 minutes or longer to let it soak the juices (you can let it sit for an hour or two - longer is better). Enjoy it warm, room temperature, or even cold for breakfast.
Notes: I only let the salted eggplant stand for 30 minutes in step 1. I started out frying the eggplant slices as directed, but then decided it was too much oil for me so for about half of the slices I just dry browned them in the pan - when assembling the lasagna I mixed up the oil and not oiled ones together. I did some research (googled) about passata - it is different from spaghetti sauce or marinara, more like tomato puree or thinner tomato sauce with the seeds removed so I mixed together one can of tomato sauce (28oz) and one can of Italian sauce (28oz) - since I've never had passata I can't say if my concoction is even close but we loved it so do what you want with that info hahaha.
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