Eggplant

Two of my favorite Italian dishes are eggplant parmigiana and eggplant rollitini.  I've made both dishes in the past and they've delighted my taste buds.  However, my delicious discovery of this eggplant recipe blew all of the other versions out of the water and... it was under my nose the whole time!!!!!  It's not so much that my previous recipes were not yum..yum..yummy, it's just that I had prepared the eggplant in a very different way.  After preparing the eggplant according to this recipe, I will never, ever, EVER go back to preparing the eggplant for any future eggplant dish the way that I used to.  Now you have to understand, most of my cooking knowledge has come from observing, tasting and experimenting with the added bonus of having been very fortunate to have a momma who is an awesome cook!!!!  ( thanks mom!).   To all of you true Italian cooks out there, you are  probably already in tune to this method of pre-prep.  I wish I was aware sooner.

As I've mentioned in previous posts, one of my favorite Italian restaurants is Carmine's in NYC, the one on 90th and Broadway.  Check it out if you can.  Flipping through the pages of their awesome cookbook, I came across their recipe for, you guessed it, eggplant parm.  Now, I know how to prepare that dish from memory and it's pretty accurate to their recipe.....EXCEPT... for how they prep the eggplant itself.  This, my friends, is the game changer!  I will say, that after readying the eggplant in this way, it didn't even need to be put in any sort of saucy, cheesy dish...it was beautiful in my mouth unembellished.

*Just a note....because of this recipe I currently have a substantial amount of eggplant planted in my garden.

How To Prepare Eggplant for your Favorite Eggplant Dish

1 - 2 Eggplants (about 1-1/2 lbs. total)
2-3 cups all-purpose flour
2-3 cups vegetable oil
6 large eggs
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
1 tbls. chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 tsp salt

Cut the ends the eggplant and discard them.  Cut each eggplant into 1/4 inch round slices (*Just a note...I sliced them a little thinner).

Spread the flour out on a large plate.

Coat each slice of eggplant with flour and shake off any excess.  Stack the eggplant slices on top each other.

Heat oil in a deep pan.

In a shallow bowl, whisk the eggs together with the Romano cheese, the parsley and salt.  Dip the eggplant, a slice at a time, in the egg mixture and let any excess drip off.

Fry the eggplant, a few at a time, for about 3 minutes until they are golden brown and tender.  Remove them with a slotted spoon and place them on a paper towel to drain and cool.


DONE!   NOW, create what ever eggplant dish you want, with the most delish pre-prepped eggplant ever!