Aubergine Parmigiana Messicani
Photo © Anne-Marie Minhall
The aubergine.
Hmmm.
I've stated my feelings previously about this fruit also known as eggplant, brinjal & baigan. This member of the nightshade family kept appearing in a fortnightly veg box & I ran out of interesting ideas to cook with it. I mean, it's a thing of beauty; the shape, the colour .. but then ..
It's the neediness of it.
If an aubergine had a voice, here's what I'd imagine it would say once it's been cut/sliced/cubed ..
Oh. I've got lots of water, you might want to put salt on me.
Oh. I'll discolour really quickly .. REALLY QUICKLY .. Here I go. Told you.
Oh. I'm now in hot oil. I'll soak all of that up leaving none for anything else in your pan.
Oh. I'm now on a plate looking nothing like as pretty as I was half an hour ago. I'm mushy & will require all the other flavours here.
So then you might be surprised that I decided to use one in a midweek supper this week. I did 'um' & 'er' & thought about what else I could substitute it for. However, nothing sprang to mind immediately & the recipe I fancied made it clear it had to be a star ingredient.
Okay. I submit. For the time being.
For two
Olive Oil
Aubergine
1 Red Onion finely diced
3 Garlic Cloves thinly sliced
1 Red Chilli ditto
Handful Basil Leaves torn
75ml White Wine
10 Cherry Tomatoes halved
150g Messicani
350ml Passata
1tbsp Sugar
150g Mozzarella sliced
Slice the aubergines into thick slices (I'm not salting)
Heat a pan & add a little of the olive oil before frying the onion for 5 minutes
Add the garlic, chilli & continue to cook for 2–3 minutes
Turn the heat up slightly before adding the white wine to the pan & cook until the wine has almost all evaporated
While the wine cooks off, add the aubergine slices to the pan
Drizzle over some more olive oil & cook for another 10–15 minutes
Season before stirring in the cherry tomatoes & the messicani
In goes the passata, sugar & enough hot water to just cover the pasta
Cover & simmer for 10 minutes stirring now & again
Once cooked, remove from the hob & stir through the mozzarella & the basil
Time to eat.
Hand on heart, the aubergine in the dish was fine, but, it definitely had assistance from everything else in the pot.
The aubergine will always be in want.
AMM
