I love eggplant and I love Mario Batali - the great Iron Chef - oh how I miss Molto Mario! I loved to watch Mario speak of the history, culture, etc. of Italian food. His dishes at times are a little complicated for the home cook but not always. I always learned something from his show and felt his passion. Well, I was a "foodie" long before "foodie" was coined. I grew up loving local farm markets, watching Julia Child and *gasp* "The Galloping Gourmet." I have a large cookbook collection ranging from church and local cookbooks to best sellers (and everything in between). Out of TV personalities, I love Sara Moulton, Martha Stewart, Lydia Bastianich, Michael Psilakis, Giada DeLaurentis, and Ina Garten. I find most of the Food Network completely unwatchable at this time - though I was sucked in by the Next Food Network Star and I kind of love Chopped!Well here is a great Mario recipe that is simple and really good!
Eggplant Mermaid Style (Melanzane Alle Sirenuse)
Recipe courtesy of Mario Batali
Ingredients
2 medium eggplants, about 1 1/2 pounds, cut into 1/2-inch thick medallions
1 pound fresh mozzarella di bufula, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
1 cup flour
3 eggs, beaten
2 cups extra-virgin olive oil, for frying
12 leaves basil
2 cups fresh tomatoes, chopped into 1/4-inch dice, with juices
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated
Directions
Preheat the oven to 450 F.
Place eggplant slices on a sheet tray and bake for 15 minutes, until light golden brown.
Form sandwiches out of the eggplant slices and cheese, placing one slice of cheese between two eggplant slices. Dredge each sandwich in the flour and dip in the egg. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet until almost smoking, and fry the sandwiches until golden brown. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels.
Arrange sandwiches in a ceramic pie pan and distribute the basil leaves evenly over the sandwiches. Season the tomatoes with salt and pepper to taste, and spoon them over the sandwiches. Sprinkle each sandwich with Parmigiano-Reggiano and bake for 17 to 20 minutes. Serve warm.
2 medium eggplants, about 1 1/2 pounds, cut into 1/2-inch thick medallions
1 pound fresh mozzarella di bufula, cut into 1/2-inch thick slices
1 cup flour
3 eggs, beaten
2 cups extra-virgin olive oil, for frying
12 leaves basil
2 cups fresh tomatoes, chopped into 1/4-inch dice, with juices
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, grated
Directions
Preheat the oven to 450 F.
Place eggplant slices on a sheet tray and bake for 15 minutes, until light golden brown.
Form sandwiches out of the eggplant slices and cheese, placing one slice of cheese between two eggplant slices. Dredge each sandwich in the flour and dip in the egg. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet until almost smoking, and fry the sandwiches until golden brown. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels.
Arrange sandwiches in a ceramic pie pan and distribute the basil leaves evenly over the sandwiches. Season the tomatoes with salt and pepper to taste, and spoon them over the sandwiches. Sprinkle each sandwich with Parmigiano-Reggiano and bake for 17 to 20 minutes. Serve warm.
PS: I've gotten buffalo mozzarella from Costco.
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Hello Jen,I followed you from the foodieblogroll and I liked reading through your blog.I share your sentiments about Molto Mario,I really enjoyed that show.Thanks for sharing this recipe.I'll be making them soon.I'd love to guide our readers to your site if you won't mind.Just add your choice of foodista widget to this post and it's all set, Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHello Jen! I found this blog in Foodista and followed it here. This is a lovely blog and awesome Eggplant Mermaid Style (Melanzane Alle Sirenuse recipe. Reminds me of mom's recipe and it was superb, I bet yours is excellent too! By the way you can place more Foodista widget in your past and future blogs so that other Foodista readers can follow and see your blog too. Just search for a related recipe or food in Foodista and use its widget. I hope to read more from you. Cheers!
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