Ask a Chef reveals the secrets of those superb dishes you ate in cafes and restaurants and wanted to try yourself.
The Esplanade's eggplant parmigiano
Serves 4
Ingredients
3 eggplants
flour for dusting
extra virgin olive oil
200gms mozzarella,chopped
250gms parmigiano,roughly sliced
a handful of fresh basil
Tomato sauce
2 400ml cans of Italian tomatoes
½ onion, finely chopped
generous glug of extra virgin olive oil
a handful of fresh basil
Method
In Italy this wonderful dish is served as an antipasti. A portion is placed on the table and shared among family or friends before a pasta or meat course. At the Esplanade we bake this in individual dishes and serve it as a main course. This recipe is for a single pan. If you would like to make individual portions, the method is the same.
First make the sauce.
Chop tomatoes and basil, place in a pot with olive oil and onion. Cook on a very low heat for 3 hours.
Peel eggplant and slice lengthways into finger-width strips. Dust the slices lightly in flour. In a wide, flat pan, pour in the olive oil to a depth of 1cm. Heat the oil, avoiding it becoming too hot. Fry the slices of eggplant in batches, laying the cooked eggplant on paper towels.
Coat the base of an ovenproof pan in the tomato sauce. Sprinkle with fresh basil. In a single layer, lay a third of the sliced eggplant over the sauce. Top with some of the mozzarella and parmigiano.
Repeat the layers another 2 times. Finish with a layer of tomato sauce, sprinkle with mozzarella and parmigiano. Bake at 180degC for 12 minutes or until browned on the top.
Requested by Lea Werner, of Dunedin.
This recipe is from Pier Paolo Ruzzu, chef at the Esplanade at St Clair, Dunedin.
• If you have enjoyed a dish in an Otago cafe or restaurant and would like the recipe, write to Ask a Chef, Features, Otago Daily Times, PO Box 181, Dunedin, fax 474-7422, or email odt.features@odt.co.nz, including your name, address and a daytime telephone number, and we will request it.