Here’s the thing about food blogging; sometimes the people who are waiting to eat my food are just too hungry to wait for me to ‘get the shot’.

My plan was to shoot eggplant parmigiano over some lovely tagliatelle, garnished with a lively sprig of Italian parsley, a glass of red wine to set the scene – you know where my head was… Instead I’m showing you the left-overs stuffed into a crusty ciabatta roll. Voila: eggplant parm hero. I added more fresh mozzarella – cause there can never be enough melted mozza – and heated the whole thing in the oven exactly the way they do it in the pizza joints in New York City’s, Little Italy. It’s one of my favorite New York Memories.

If eggplant is cooked properly, it tastes like magic. If it isn’t, you’ll spit it out. The trick is in the cook time. With today’s recipe, the eggplant starts out in a skillet where you’ll crisp up the breadcrumb coating then move it to the oven where it’ll bake in marinara sauce until the eggplant is like velvet. Served over pasta, this is a wonderful vegetarian meal loved by carnivores. Stuffed in a crusty roll, topped with a load of fresh mozzarella and toasted up in the oven – carnivores consider becoming vegetarian!

EGGPLANT PARM HERO
6 servings

Preheat oven 375*F

1 large eggplant, sliced across into ½” thick pieces
1 tablespoon coarse sea salt – I used Himalayan pink sea salt
2 large eggs, beaten with 2 tablespoons of water
2 cups Italian bread crumbs
1 cup olive oil – more if necessary
½ lb fresh mozzarella, cut in small chunks or use bocconcini
3 cups of your favourite tomato sauce – prepare ahead.
Small bunch of fresh basil
6 ciabatta rolls
½ lb fresh mozzarella, sliced into ¼” slices

THE STEPS:

• Salt eggplant on both sides.
• Place eggplant slices in a colander for 1 hour.

• Brush salt off eggplant and pat dry with paper towel.
• Dip eggplant slices in egg wash then in bread crumbs.
• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
• Fry eggplant in batches, turning once until golden – 5 minutes total.

• Add more olive oil as necessary.
• Spread 1 cup of tomato sauce over the bottom of a large casserole.

• Place cooked eggplant on sauce.
• Sprinkle with fresh basil leaves.

• Ladle sauce over eggplant and basil leaves.
• Place mozzarella evenly over all.

• Cover with aluminium foil, place in oven on the bottom rack.
• Bake for 1 hour.
• Split ciabatta rolls and drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.
• Place under the broiler until lightly browned.
• Preheat oven to 400*F
• Fill toasted ciabatta with baked eggplant then top with sliced mozzarella.
• Place in the oven until cheese is bubbly.
• Remove from oven and serve immediately with lots of napkins!

THE LOVE: This is a decadent sandwich – be generous with both the extra virgin olive oil and the fresh mozzarella. Viva Italia!

Thanks for reading.

photography by michelle