My family just a few months before we moved from NJ...my First Communion (1978, i think).
When I was 9, my family moved from New Jersey to the suburbs of Chicago (Naperville). To say we were culture shocked would be an understatement. It felt like we moved to another world. Vast farmland, tornado drills, stares and snickers from Midwesterners who had never personally heard a thick NJ accent and the food. The food. Soda was now "pop", pizza was 2 inches thick and there was a severe lack of some of the authentic Italian staples we had always known.
Red Moon Pizzeria was our neighborhood pizza place back in NJ. Every Saturday night we ordered pizza and eggplant parmagiana heroes. Yes, heroes. You say sub, we say hero. Seriously....heaven on a plate. No such luck finding them in our new hometown, so my mom, being the amazing cook that she is, taught herself how to make them out of necessity and craving!
You say you don't like eggplant? Never tried it? If you say you don't like it, it's probably because it's not been done right. If you've never tried it, you're in for a real treat. This isn't an exact recipe...because that's not how my mom cooks. It's a little of this and a little of that. To taste. I will do the best i can to talk you through it.
It's all about using the very best ingredients...the real thing. No fake cheese from a green can. We get imported grated Pecorino Romano cheese and fresh mozzarella cheese from our local gourmet store, Vine & Table. If you go, ask for Fred and tell him the Mercuri's sent you! He'll take care of you. Now, we were making enough for the entire family...2 lasagna pans and 2 smaller pans, so that's why the huge quanities of cheese...you won't need to buy this much!
To make one lasagna pan of parmagiana, you will probably need 1-1/2 pounds of mozz (sliced), one pound of grated Pecorino Romano and 5 pounds of eggplant.
The eggplant needs to be prepared the night before. Peel it. That's where a lot of restaurants go wrong. The peel can be tough and bitter. Peel the eggplants, slice them in long slices from stem to stem, about 1/4" thick. Eggplant is naturally full of water. You need to draw some of that water out. Lay a dishtowel on your countertop, then a layer of papertowels. You will need to layer the eggplant slices between sheets of papertowels. Depending on how much eggplant you have, you will have lots of layers. My mom then lays a heavy wooden cutting board on top to add pressure to the layers, but anything heavy will do. Let this sit overnight and be prepared to cook the next morning. All of the papertowels will be wet.
Mom had made the salsa marinara (what we affectionately call "the gravy") before i got there, so here's the skinny...
Sautee 2 cloves of garlic in the bottom of a pan in some olive oil. Crush the garlic with a fork as it sautees. Pull most of the garlic out when done and discard. Add one large can of tomato puree. Fill the can 3/4 with water and pour into the pan with the puree. Add 1/2 tsp. of onion powder, 1 tbsp of dried oregano and salt & pepper to taste.
You're going to dip each slice of eggplant into an egg and milk mixture (mom says...one egg, lots of milk) and then dredge through a bowl of flour. That's it, just flour.
Then it's going for a dip in a pan of hot vegetable oil. (Olive oil is too heavy to use for this) Hey, i never said this was light cooking!...another reason we don't make this very often! This is the time consuming and messy part. Tip: Every so often, you might want to change out the oil, because the flour mixture will start to muddy up the oil.
This is what you will end up with...
They are so delicious, just like this. You will find it hard (like my Mom) to resist!
Layer in your pan...a little gravy, a layer of eggplant, a layer of mozz, more gravy, a generous sprinkling of Romano and repeat these layers until you run out of eggplant.
Essentially, your dish is cooked, you are just heating it up to melt the cheese and serve it warm. Bake with foil on top at 350 for at least a half hour. Pull foil off and heat until bubbling hot. (Use the old knife in the middle and comes out hot method to make sure it's hot all the way through)
To turn your eggplant into a hero, you'll want to stop by your grocery store bakery and pick up a loaf of crusty Italian bread. We like to slice ours and put them open face under the broiler to toast them before we put the eggplant on. Seriously, i need a napkin right now, for all of my drool....
FYI...it's even better heated up the next day for leftovers!
Mangia, mangia! {eat, eat!!!!}
P.S. Thanks, Ma...it was fun cooking with you and now i have a photo recipe for my very favorite dish!
