Description
This heirloom Italian family recipe came stateside with my grandmother when she immigrated from Italy. Growing up in a house that had Italian sauce being made every Sunday, this eggplant was always a favorite. Using good quality ingredients is critical for this recipe. It is very time consuming and laborious. It would be a shame to invest all of this time and effort with inferior ingredients only to be let down when you eat it later.
Ingredients
- 2 medium Italian eggplants, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch slices
- 2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
- 3 tablespoons sea salt, or to taste
- 1 tablespoon ground black pepper, or to taste
- 5 eggs, room temperature
- 3 tablespoons water, room temperature
- ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, or as needed
- 2 cups freshly grated Pecorino-Romano cheese, divided
- 40 ounces Italian-style tomato sauce
- 2 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 30 ounces freshly grated mozzarella cheese
Instructions
- Lay eggplant slices on top of paper towels and sprinkle with sea salt to draw out moisture. Cover with additional paper towels. Let sit
- 8 hours to overnight.
- Place flour into a 1-gallon resealable plastic bag. Add salt and pepper; shake the bag to mix. Place 6 eggplant slices into the bag
- seal
- and shake to coat.
- Beat eggs and water together using a fork in a small bowl. Season with salt and pepper.
- Heat 2 inches of oil over medium-high heat in a 10-inch cast iron skillet. Line baking sheets with paper towels to drain eggplants after frying.
- Shake excess flour from eggplant slices and place into egg mixture
- turning to ensure both sides are coated. Allow excess egg mixture to drip off.
- Fry in hot oil until slightly golden
- 2 to 3 minutes per side. Transfer to the paper towel-lined baking sheets. Sprinkle each slice with 1 tablespoon Pecorino Romano cheese. Repeat process until all eggplant slices are fried. Let cool slightly
- about 5 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- Pour a small amount of tomato sauce into the bottom of a 9×13-inch baking pan to cover.
- Place 1/3 of the eggplant slices over sauce
- slightly overlapping them. Sprinkle 1/3 of the remaining Pecorino-Romano cheese and Parmesan cheese evenly on top. Cover with a light layer of sauce. Sprinkle 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese over sauce. Repeat for a total of 3 layers.
- Bake in the preheated oven until bubbly
- about 40 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10 minutes to set.
Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 50 mins
Total Time: 9 hrs 35 mins
Servings: 12