I love eggplant Parmesan and I have prepared it many different ways - in sauce, by itself, thick, thin, different types of cheeses. I don’t care. Give me fresh eggplant fried just right with a good tomato sauce and I’m happy. The version below is from my friend Chef Mark Vogel. When he made this dish at home a few weeks ago, he call me the next day and told me how good it turned out and he had to write an article about it.

The photos are mine from different times I’ve made it. You may notice spaghetti in one photo and penne in another. That’s because they are from different times with different recipes. Mark’s article will give you a little history as well a offer you his recipe for making this classic meal. Tomorrow or Sunday I will post his recipe for a basic tomato sauce to serve with this dish but I also have a couple of basic tomato sauce recipes myself.

Eggplant Parmigiana
by Mark Vogel

Everybody’s had the prototypical eggplant Parmigiana, (a.k.a. eggplant Parmesan), in run-of-the-mill Italian eateries, or worse yet, your average American pizza parlor.  It’s always the same:  thin, mushy slices of eggplant, sparingly dotted with cheese and slathered in a dubious sauce.  It’s about as texturally inviting as a productive sneeze.  I say it’s time to reclaim eggplant parmigiana; to return it to its former glory:  properly cooked but not squishy pieces of eggplant with a crisp crust, adequate cheese and a deeply flavored tomato sauce.

It’s actually amazing how much you can learn about cooking from a dish as seemingly simple as eggplant parmigiana.  I say “seemingly simple” because for the cook who is striving for perfection, there’s much more to it than just frying some eggplant, adding sauce and cheese and throwing it in the oven.  There are a number of nuances to its preparation that if ignored, results in the listless, limp, neighborhood-pizzeria rendition all too common in the American culinary landscape.

What’s In a Name

First let’s clear up some terminology issues.  In the loosest definition, “Parmesan” and “parmigiana” have come to mean dishes that are made with cheese.  More precisely it should be Parmesan cheese but basically any dish or sandwich buried by mozzarella is nowadays referred to as Parmesan or parmigiana.  Whether it actually contains real Parmesan is up to the discretion of the chef, or the budget of the owner.   Parmesan in turn refers to Parma, the glorious city in Emilia-Romagna and birthplace of Italy’s “king of cheese.”

Parmigiana is an alternative and more authentic spelling for Parmesan.  However, eggplant parmigiana was never supposed to embrace either term or their shared meaning.  Parmigiana is a corruption of palmigiana or parmiciana, depending on who you ask.  Both of these latter words refer to overlapping pieces of wood, or a shutter, which is supposed to resemble the overlying slices of eggplant in the baking dish.  OK, now that the linguistic portion of the session is over, let’s start cooking.

I Want a Crisp Coating with Tender Interior

As stated, my primary goal when making eggplant parmigiana is to produce eggplant with a crispy coating and a soft but not mushy interior.  This is achieved by

1. using the freshest eggplant possible
2. slicing them a little bit thicker
3. salting them to remove excess fluid
4. breading them properly
5. pan-frying them correctly
6. I know this heresy for many but…….NOT baking it in the tomato sauce.

Choosing and Handling

The first step is choosing your eggplant and treating it right.  In addition to the traditional, egg-shaped eggplants ubiquitous to American supermarkets, there are many other kinds of eggplant.  Italian eggplant look like a smaller version of the regular ones but have a more delicate skin and texture.  Japanese eggplant are oblong and slender, are often brighter purple, and have a sweeter flesh.  There’s even a white eggplant which sports a tough skin but smooth flesh.

Whatever variety, choose eggplants with a firm, smooth, unblemished skin devoid of any soft spots.  Use eggplants as soon as possible.  They don’t last long even in the fridge.  Because they’re a tropical plant they don’t take well to cold.  So while I prefer the standard eggplant or the Italian variety for eggplant parmigiana it’s most important to acquire fresh specimens and use them promptly.

To peel or not to peel?

It’s up to your personal taste.  I prefer mine peeled.  Some cooks profess that leaving the skin on helps hold them together but you can make very soggy eggplant even with the skin.  After peeling I slice them a half-inch thick.  I prefer to cut them lengthwise but you can cut them crosswise into discs.  What’s most vital is not only the thickness, but the uniformity.  Unequal slices will produce disparate textures within each piece after cooking.

Salting

Next, lay the slices on a cooling rack on top of a sheet pan.  Generously salt both sides of the eggplant with kosher salt.  Use a liberal amount of salt as you’ll wipe it off later.  Allow the slices to rest for 30-45 minutes.  This draws out their moisture and will improve the final texture.  After they have rested, press each slice between paper toweling to squeeze out more water and wipe off the excess salt.

Breading

On to what’s known in the culinary world as the “standard breading procedure,” which is dipping the food in flour, then beaten egg and finally breadcrumbs.  Shake off the excess flour before introducing the food to the egg.  Too much flour and the breading can dislodge.  I prefer panko breadcrumbs which have a coarser texture.  I use a roomy bowl with ample breadcrumbs so I can grab small handfuls of them and press them into the eggplant.  Place the breaded slices on a baking sheet to rest as this also assists in the adherence of the coating.

Frying

Next add oil to a large skillet.  Eyeball it so there’s at least enough to submerge the slices halfway.  If you’re not sure, erring on the side of a little extra won’t hurt.  Heat the oil until it shimmers or to a temperature of 350˚F.  If the oil is not hot enough the breading will absorb too much of it and get soggy.

Conversely, do not let the oil get too hot or you risk burning the outside of the eggplant before the center is cooked.  Place the slices in the oil.  Work in batches and do not overcrowd the pan.  As soon as the first side is thoroughly browned, flip it and brown the other.  Remove the slices to paper toweling to drain and season with salt and pepper.

Baking

Preheat your oven to 375˚F.  Spray a clean baking sheet with vegetable spray.  Arrange the eggplant slices on the sheet without overlapping them.  Use additional trays if needed.  Take shredded mozzarella cheese and pile the desired amount on each slice of eggplant.  Use a little more than you think you need.

Place the eggplant in the oven just long enough to melt the cheese.  Make your tomato sauce separately.  Place the finished eggplant slices on your plate and sauce them at the table.  This will ensure crisp eggplant.  Cooking them in the sauce moistens the crust and defeats the whole purpose of frying them in the first place.

Tomato Sauce

I have a nice tomato sauce recipe from my friend Chef Ricco DeLuca but tomorrow I’ll post another one from Chef Vogel. We talked the day after he tested this recipe at home and said the sauce was incredible. I’m sure you have your own favorite recipe for making tomato sauce and by all means use it but if you are looking for something different, give Ricco’s or Mark’s a try. And you you are in a hurry and need a shortcut, you can always use a favorite commercial brand but I can’t imagine it will be as good as homemade. Not much is.

Chef Mark R. Vogel

Related Topics

Basic Tomato Sauce

Pomodoro Sauce

Tomato Strainer

My wife put this recipe together and I took pictures of it. She adapted it from a cookbook, Fish & Seafood that was part of a series called What’s Cooking. I think I picked it up on sale at Costco years ago. It was published in 2000.

There are some amazing looking recipes which is why I bought it but I think this is the first recipe we tried from it. Not sure why, but I often buy cookbooks that look good and have a couple of recipes I want to try but never get around to trying them.

A chef told me once if he finds ONE great recipe in a cookbook, it’s worth the price. I’d personally like to find two, three or four really good recipes that I’d make again to call it a successful purchase. What’s Cooking – Fish & Seafood looks like it has more than that and if they are as tasty as this one, I’m in luck.

Catalonian Cooking

Catalonia is a part of Spain that borders France and the Mediterranean Sea. It was colonized originally by the Ancient Greeks and has a long cultural history.  I guess you can say its food is Mediterranean and because of its location on the sea, seafood is very important.

What really gives Catalan food its uniqueness are the sauces for their fish and meat dishes.  According to www.aboutbarcelona.com, “There are five main types: sofregit (fried onion, tomato and garlic); samfaina or chanfaina (sofregit plus red pepper and aubergine or courgette); picada (based on ground almonds, usually with garlic, parsley, pine or hazel nuts, and sometimes breadcrumbs); aioli (pounded garlic with olive oil, often with egg yolk added to make more of a mayonnaise); and romesco (an almond, tomato, olive oil, garlic and vinegar sauce, also used as a salad dressing).”

Is your mouth watering yet?

This dish uses two of these classics – the sofregit (sofrito), where the onion & tomato are slowly cooked and then garlic is added and picada, a combination of almonds, garlic and bread.  Don’t get nervous with all the different names and ingredients. This is not a difficult recipe.

Ingredients

The recipes calls for many different types of seafood. Some of them like shrimp and lobster we had frozen in the freezer. The rest you should be able to find at any good fish market but don’t be afraid to substitute. If you don’t know what to substitute for any particular item, ask your fishmonger.

• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 large onions, finely chopped
• 2 ripe tomatoes, skinned, deseeded and diced
• 2 slices white bread, remove the crusts
• 4 toasted almonds
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped roughly
• 12 oz. of cooked lobster (we just happened to have some cooked leftover lobster from a previous dinner)
• 7 oz cleaned squid (we omitted this item – not sure the girls would appreciate it although they love calamari)
• 7 oz. monkfish (also sometimes referred to as “poor man’s lobster”)
• 7 oz. cod fillet, no skin
• 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
• 6 large shrimp
• 6 langoustines (also know as Norway lobster or Dublin Bay prawn - a crustacean that looks like a small lobster or big crayfish. We didn’t use them in our version of this recipe. I’m not sure I could even find them around here.)
• 18 live mussels, cleaned and beards removed
• 8 live clams, cleaned
• 1 tablespoon of fresh parsley, chopped
• ½ cup brandy
• Salt and pepper, to taste

How to Make Spanish Fish Stew

Preparing the Sofrito

Add 3 tablespoons of oil to a large frying pan and add the onions.  Cook  the onions gently on low – medium heat for 10 minutes until they are caramelized and golden brown. If they start to stick to the pan, you can add a little water. Add the tomatoes and continue cooking until they break down.

Preparing the Picada

Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in another pan and fry the bread slices until crisp. Add the bread to a food processor along with the almonds and 2 garlic cloves and process until it forms a fine paste.

Preparing the Seafood

If you are starting with an uncooked lobster, boil it until done and then remove the meat from the tail and the claws. You can mess with the other part of the lobster, but I would save it for making seafood stock for bisque or soup.
Slice the squid into rings if you didn’t buy them already sliced.

Cooking the Seafood

Dust the cod, lobster and monkfish with a little flour. Brown all the seafood separately in a frying pan with the remaining oil. Start with the cod, then the monkfish, lobster, squid and finish with the shrimp. Once browned, add all the seafood to a large flameproof casserole pan.

Now you add the clams and mussels to the top of the fish, sprinkle with the remaining garlic and parsley. Add the brandy to the pan (off heat and be very careful) and ignite. Keep your hands and face away from the pan so you don’t burn yourself.

When the flame goes out, add the pan back to the stove, add the tomato mixture (sofrito) and just enough water to cover the seafood. Bring this to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for 3 to 4 minutes. When all the mussels and clams have opened, you are done. Be sure to discard and mussels or clams that didn’t open.

Finish by stirring in the bread mixture, taste and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper.  Let this continue simmering for 5 minutes to make sure all the fish is tender and good.

Chicken Liver Pate on Crostini Vetri Style

Chicken Liver Pate?!  Don’t leave the page just yet. I know many of you can’t even imagine eating chicken livers in any form but hang in here. This rustic chicken liver pate recipe adapted from Marc Vetri’s il viaggio di vetri cookbook is simply divine.

Yes, there is a distinctive chicken liver flavor, but with all of the other ingredients combined, it is not overwhelming.  In fact, you might be surprised and dismayed at the amount of butter this wonderful recipe contains. It is extremely rich so a little goes a long way. I’ve prepared it many times for parties or when friends spend the weekend and the reception is always overwhelmingly positive.

You have heard me mention Chef Vetri on many occasions here. He and his partner Jeff Benjamin host The Great Chef’s Event to raise money for the Alex’s Lemonade Foundation, a noble cause to help find a cure for childhood cancer. Marc and Jeff invite a bunch of their favorite chefs to come to Philly to cook small plates for hundreds of foodies like myself.  It is in my opinion this is one of the best culinary events anyone could wish for and supports a great cause.

I adapt Marc’s recipe a little because I was missing an ingredient or two and cut it in half because the original makes quite a bit, and I didn’t think I would eat it all.  Besides, the thought of frozen pate is just not appealing, if it can be frozen at ll. (If you read this post Marc, please let me know.) Like I said, a little will fill you up.

This recipe is extremely affordable. The chicken livers cost me only  $1.50 for a half a pound!  There are a few other ingredients that are more expensive but you only need a small quantity and you can always substitute. I didn’t have pancetta, a salt cured pork belly, so I substituted bacon and it didn’t hurt the overall flavor one bit.

If you ever want to enjoy a country style rustic chicken pate, I suggest you give this one a try. I’m sure it will become an often-repeated appetizer in your culinary repertoire.

Chicken Liver Pate on Country Bread Toasts

Ingredients:

• 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 small garlic clove
• ½ pound chicken livers
• 1 fresh rosemary sprig
• 1 fresh sage sprig
• 1 ounce of unsmoked bacon, finely chopped – (pancetta if you can find it)
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• ½ onion
• 1 tablespoon of Port
• 1 tablespoon cognac
• 1 teaspoon white truffle paste (you can substitute ¼ teaspoon white truffle oil
• Loaf of Italian bread, sliced thin and toasted
• 1 – 2 tablespoons of oil to make the Crostini

How to Make at Home

Start by heating up a sauté pan (frying pan) over medium high heat and adding 2 tablespoons of butter. Add the garlic and sauté for a couple of minutes until golden.  Watch it carefully;, you don’t want to let it burn.

Add the chicken livers, bacon, rosemary and sage. Stir and let this cook for about 1 minute.  Season with salt and pepper.

Reduce the heat to low and add the onion. Sauté for 25 to 30 minutes until the onions are soft and the chicken livers are cooked.

Off heat, add the port and Cognac. Raise the heat to medium-high and return the pan to stove. The recipe says to simmer until the liquid is reduced by half but I found it reduced to nothing right away. Remove the pan from the heat and let it cool.

Take out the sprigs of rosemary and sage and transfer the liver mixture to a food processor. Add the remaining butter and truffle paste. Puree this mixture until smooth.

Chef Vetri suggests straining the puree through a tamis or fine-mesh sieve into a bowl but we don’t. Why?  Well…..it takes more time, it is very messy and we like the texture of pate without straining it.  I’ll have to try straining it and see if there is a difference.

I put the pate into a ramekin, covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated for at least one hour but you’ll want to take it out 15 minutes before serving.

Serving

Toast the bread slices. Add some pate to the toasted bread (Crostini) and drizzle some olive oil on top.
The liver should keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. I have no idea if you can freeze it but will try to find out.

Saute the chicken livers

Adding a spring of rosemary

Adding onion to the pan

Puree the livers in a food processor