copyright, 2008, Maria Liberati
Here in the mountains of Abruzzo I am finishing up some new recipes before I go back to Umbria to finish up the culinary tour I am hosting there.
Here is one of the new recipes I got to work on and will be using this for the next culinary tour, not your usual eggplant parmigiana.
Tortino di Melanzane ( Eggplant casserole)
*3 medium eggplants
*1/2 cup parmigiana-reggiano cheese
*3/4 lb of fresh mozzarella cheese
*2 stalks of fresh basil
*1 tablespoon of pinoli nuts
*2 tblsps of extra virgin olive oil for pesto
*1 cup olive oil for frying
*2 cups semolina flour
*2 black truffles
*salt and pepper to taste
Wash and cut the eggplant into slices of medium thickness. Place slices on a plate and sprinkle sea salt on top and let sit for about 1 hour. Rinse well with water and pat dry gently. Place semolina flour in a flat dish and coat eggplant slices with flour.
Heat oil in a frying pan and fry eggplant slices till brown on both sides. Place on two layers of white paper towels to absorb oil.
In a food processor prepare a pesto with the leaves only of the basil, the pinoli nuts and 2 tblsps extra virgin olive oil, 2 tblsp of grated parmigiana cheese. Set aside. Cut fresh mozzarella into slices. Cover baking pan with parchment paper. Form a cake like casserole by alternating a layer of fried eggplant, then slices of mozzarella cheese, 1 tblsp of pesto, 1 tblsp of grated parmigiana cheese. Then begin again till ingredients are finished. Top with grated parmigiana cheese. Bake for 10 minutes in an oven that has been preheated to 365 degrees. Serve with shavings of the black truffles. If you can’t find black truffles, drizzle slices of the ‘tortino’ with truffle oil.
Enjoy with a dry white wine.
For more great recipes get your copy of the best selling book The Basic Art of Italian Cooking at https://www.marialiberati.com/
Mangia Bene, Vivi Bene
Maria
Tortino di Melanzane
