As you probably know by now, eggplant is another favourite of ours. My Nonna Marietta’s eggplants are simple treats made with fresh ingredients. The best recipes have few ingredients that bring out the flavour of the main ingredient. This recipe is also part of the grand Cucina Povera. My family in Italy used readily available vegetables to make satisfying meals that they would share at the table.
You need small baby eggplants to make this recipe. The eggplant is sliced halfway through and then stuffed with with garlic. Marietta would also stuff them with cheese. I changed the recipe a bit, but you can always put nice slices of provolone cheese in the middle. The egg plant gets sautéed in oil and then removed from the pan. I made a fresh sauce using red onions, tomatoes, garlic, and olive oil. Then the sautéed eggplant is placed back into the pan and simmered with the sauce. To finish it we use fresh breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese.
Many times we had this as a main meal in the evening with a nice piece of bread. It can also be served as a Secondo after a dish of pasta as a primo. Whatever you choose, this dish won’t disappoint. Another one of my favourite eggplant recipes on the blog https://recipesatmytable.com/grilled-eggplant-roll-ups
Ingredients For Nonna Marietta’s Eggplants
- 4 small eggplants
- 4 cloves garlic (sliced)
- salt and pepper
- olive oil for sautéing
- 1tsp Italian seasoning
- 10 small tomatoes (diced)
- 1 medium red onion
- 2 cloves garlic sliced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
- 2 tbsp breadcrumbs
Process
Take the egg plants, wash them and cut off the tip. Then slice them lengthwise so that you’re going down about halfway through. Take some of the peel off the outside with a vegetable peeler. Slice the cloves of garlic and put one sliced clove per eggplant. Put some olive oil in a sauté pan and start sautéing the eggplant so they turn nice and golden brown. Make sure you salt and pepper the egg plants in the pan.
This is the colour you were looking for. Do you want that nice golden brown crust on them .
Dice the red onion and the tomatoes. Chop up the other two cloves of garlic.
We are making a fresh little sauce to go with the egg plants. Let the vegetable sauté for a bit and then add about half a cup of water to the veggies and let them hang out for a couple of minutes. Now it’s time to put the egg plants into the pan. Add the Italian seasoning. Cover the pan and turn your heat on low and let them sit there for about 10 minutes.
When that sauce thickens a bit remove the lid and let it thicken some more for about five minutes. Then sprinkle on the breadcrumbs and Parmesan cheese. This will also flavour the sauce. At this point you want to turn the heat off when you’re adding the cheese.
Serve on a large platter with the thick and delicious sauce. Drizzle with a little more olive oil.
Published by