Spotlight on - Aubergine Parmigiana a Vegetarian hot buffet lunch

Submitted by Red and Green Buffet on Wed, 11/01/2012 - 16:24

Easily one of Italy's best kept secrets and great veggie alternative to lasagne - The Aubergine has a delicious almost meaty & creamy texture that makes this dish work so well, there are a few recipes online, but here is our version, we have scaled it down for 4 hungry people:

Ingredients:

  • 2 large aubergines, sliced to fit/layer a 4 person casserole dish, slices to be no thicker than £1 coin 
  • 50gm of plain flour 
  • glug of olive oil
  • knob of unsalted butter
  • 200gm of sliced chestnut mushrooms, this is optional, but we feel it adds extra depth & texture to the dish 
  • 2 organic leeks, thinly sliced - normal will do, however organic leeks are reasonably priced these days & deliver a better flavour
  • 1 white onion, finely diced and seasoned with sea salt
  • 2 tablespoons of tomato puree
  • 500ml of organic passanta - can use peeled chopped tomatoes, but be aware tomato seeds add a slight bitterness to the sauce.
  • 60gm of fresh basil, chopped roughly 
  • Optional: 1 x free range egg, beaten in a bowl, much better with an egg, but depends if you are an egg eating veggie or not
  • 2 fat cloves of garlic thinly sliced & crushed with sea salt to make a garlic paste 
  • 1 large glass of red wine
  • 100gms of veggie mozzarella 
  • 150gms of veggie parmesan 

Method: 

  • Make the sauce first: - melt olive oil with butter in a large saucepan gently on low heat
  • Add onions, garlic, leeks & coat with oil butter mix & allow to gently cook for about 8 - 10 mins do not allow the onions to brown 
  • Add mushrooms, wine & tomato puree & cook out the puree for a few mins 
  • Add passanta & basil 
  • Allow to cook and taste to adjust the seasoning with salt & pepper
  • Add water if the sauce is too thick or dry looking and continue to simmer for about 5 mins or all vegetables have softened 
  • Prepare the aubergines - if using egg, then dust each slice of aubergine in flour & coat in egg wash 
  • Heat a frying pan and quickly fry each slice of aubergine until all of the egg is cooked & set each slice aside on kitchen roll to remove any excess fat, if you perfer not to use the egg wash, use a griddle pan instead to create scorch marks on the aubergine creating more flavour. 
  • Assemble the dish - suitable casserole dish & put in a layer of sauce followed by a layer of cooked aubergine slices, then the sauce, as you would with lasagne, (please note you can make this dish richer at this point by adding more cheese with each layer).
  • Then a layer of sauce, followed by the aubergines & top with the remaining sauce
  • Finish off with nice slices of mozzarella and dust with the parmesan 
  • Place in the oven on 180 degrees C for 30 mins the cheese should be melted 
  • Serve hot with a tasty salad 

 

 

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