The Puglian eggplant parmesan is a classic of Puglian cuisine, truly delightful in flavors and tastes… it’s really hard to stop at the first bite and not get seconds, perhaps accompanied by some good slices of toasted semolina bread or the delicious Barese focaccia.
The Puglian eggplant parmesan differs from the classic version because the eggplants are not only fried but are either fried in batter or first passed in flour and then in beaten egg. Moreover, they are further enriched with either minced meat previously browned in a pan or cooked ham or mortadella. If you are looking for the original recipe of Puglian eggplant parmesan, it is really hard to find, because – as they say – “Puglia is long” and every area of Puglia has its version: generally, I prepare it with cooked ham or with a mix of cooked ham and mortadella. When I don’t feel like frying, I prepare the oven-baked eggplant pie, since calling it non-fried parmesan would be heresy!
Puglian eggplant parmesan is as good as it is time-consuming.
I always recommend starting with the preparation of the ingredients a bit in advance and “assembling” and cooking it at least a day before consuming it.. because that way it becomes even tastier and more flavorful!
Generally, I always fry the eggplants the day before, so as to be able to change the absorbent paper on which I lay them several times and eliminate the excess oil, which would make it much heavier and, in my opinion, compromise the taste. For the batter, I have always used this recipe: Vegetable frying batter, because it makes the eggplants even more flavorful, but I won’t deny that when I’m in a bit of a hurry, I just flour the eggplant slices and fry them directly!
Well, now let’s move on to the recipe and see together how to prepare this delicious Puglian parmesan! The one I’m proposing is my family’s recipe.
- Difficulty: Medium
- Cost: Medium
- Rest time: 12 Hours
- Preparation time: 2 Hours
- Portions: 10 People
- Cooking methods: Oven, Frying
- Cuisine: Regional Italian
- Region: Puglia
- Seasonality: Spring, Summer
- Energy 200.89 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 17.40 (g) of which sugars 2.06 (g)
- Proteins 10.43 (g)
- Fat 10.59 (g) of which saturated 4.58 (g)of which unsaturated 5.05 (g)
- Fibers 1.75 (g)
- Sodium 311.02 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 100 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for preparing Puglian eggplant parmesan
- 1 l tomato puree
- 1 carrot
- 1 onion
- 1 stalk celery
- A few leaves basil
- to taste salt
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cups water
- 21 oz all-purpose flour
- 2 cups milk (cow, lactose-free or plant-based)
- 2.8 oz Grana Padano cheese (or grated Pecorino Romano)
- 0.7 oz chopped parsley
- 2 cloves fresh garlic (minced – optional)
- 5 eggs
- to taste salt
- to taste pepper
- 3 eggplants (large size)
- 21 oz mozzarella (or fiordilatte)
- 7 oz cooked ham (or 7 oz of cooked ham + mortadella)
- 3.5 oz Parmigiano Reggiano PDO
- to taste sunflower oil
- to taste coarse salt
Tools for preparing Puglian eggplant parmesan
- Frying pan
- Casserole
- Slotted spoon
- Tray
- Baking dish
- Cutting board
- Knife
- Bowl
Preparation of Puglian eggplant parmesan
Let’s see together how to prepare Puglian eggplant parmesan. As I already mentioned, I recommend starting its preparation at least a day in advance.
First of all, prepare the sauce that you will need to season the parmesan. In a saucepan, put a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, the sliced onion, carrot, and a stalk of celery. Sauté for a couple of minutes and then pour the tomato sauce into the pot.
Add 2-2.5 cups of water as well: the sauce should be quite liquid to best season the parmesan.
Cook for about 30-40 minutes over moderate heat. Towards the end of cooking, add a few basil leaves. Adjust salt, but do not overdo it, because the seasoning will already make your Puglian eggplant parmesan quite tasty.
Let it cool and set aside.Slice the eggplants lengthwise with a mandoline, to a thickness of about 1.5 inches. For personal taste, I remove the skin from the eggplants to make them more digestible, but if you want, you can decide to leave it.
Put the eggplant slices to “purge” in cold water with 2-3 tablespoons of coarse salt: this will allow the eggplants to release their bitter vegetation water.
Leave them to soak for at least an hour, then drain, rinse and dry them well: well-dried eggplants will also absorb less oil.
For the batter recipe and procedure, I refer you to this link: Vegetable frying batter.
If you don’t want to use the batter, you can flour the eggplants and then pass them in beaten egg (you will need at least 4-5).
Put a pan on the heat, preferably with a heavy bottom (it spreads heat better) and heat plenty of sunflower oil. To understand when the oil is ready, put a drop of batter: if it fills with bubbles and immediately rises to the surface, it means it’s time to fry
Put a few slices of eggplant at a time in the batter, drain them of excess batter, and then put them in the hot oil. Fry them slowly and over moderate heat, browning them on both sides.
When they’re ready, drain the eggplant slices on absorbent paper and continue until all the ingredients are used up.
After 2-3 hours, change the absorbent papers so that the eggplants release as much oil as possible and are lighter and less greasy.At this point, proceed to assemble the parmesan.
Take a rectangular pan or a baking dish and cover the bottom with 1 or two ladles of sauce.Arrange the first layer of eggplants, placing the slices next to each other and covering the entire bottom.
Proceed to add some chopped mozzarella, cooked ham, and grated cheese. Finally, 1 or two ladles of sauce.
Make the second layer of eggplants and repeat the various layers (mozzarella – cooked ham – grated cheese and sauce) until all the ingredients are used up.
On the last layer (which will be the surface of the parmesan) put only mozzarella, cheese, and, finally, a lot of sauce (which, as I already said above, should be quite liquid, otherwise the parmesan might be “dry”).
Bake at 392°F for about 20-30 minutes, until the surface is well gratinated.
When it’s ready, take it out of the oven and let it cool. The resting time is crucial because it allows the liquids to be absorbed and distributed better, and also because if you cut it while hot, it would fall apart. If you manage to make it the day before, it would be ideal.Well, your Puglian eggplant parmesan is ready to be enjoyed in all its goodness!
..and if you have leftover fried eggplant slices, try these delicious Fried eggplant rolls..they’re out of this world!
Storage, tips, notes, and variations
– The parmesan can be stored well sealed in the fridge for a few days. Just heat it at 302°F for about twenty minutes.
– Alternatively, you can portion it and freeze it. When you want to consume it, just take it out of the freezer and thaw it with the defrost function in the microwave or you can thaw it directly in the oven. In the latter case, I recommend freezing the Puglian parmesan in single-serving aluminum containers, so that you can transfer it directly from the freezer to the oven.
– Eggplant parmesan with batter-coated eggplants is really delicious and flavorful, but I understand that for some it might be “heavy”: you are free to only flour the eggplants before frying them, although – I’ll tell you in advance – it won’t be quite the same!
– For a vegetarian version of eggplant parmesan, you can omit the ham or mortadella in the various layers.
