You would think that parmigiano (parmesan) is absolutely essential for a parmigiana, after all it's in the name, right? It turns out that it might not be as obvious as that, the name parmigiana might not even derive from parmigiano regiano. I made mine with pecorino an mozarella and it was perfect for this. The light tanginess of pecorino and the fact that it's not as hard as parmigiano made it a perfect replacement. A mix of pecorino and parmigano should work good too. The real essential is the aubergine. Here is my take on this Italian classic.
You'll need: (for two individual size pots)
an aubergine
salt
3 tomotoes
half a mozarella
grated pecorino
dried oregano
cinnamon
black pepper
red wine
olive oil
1. Slice the aubergine, spread the slices on a plate, salt them generously and leave for 30 minutes.
2. In the meantime, boil some water in a kettle and pour over the tomatoes to remove their skins. The task is easier if you cut a cross on their bottoms.
3. Chop the skinned tomatoes and fry on a pan with a clove of garlic cut in half, a splash of olive oil, dried oregano and some wine. Once your sauce is ready put aside and prepare the aubergine.
3. Rinse the aubergine slices from excess salt and fry with olive oil until they brown slightly. Add a pinch of cinnamon (optional).
4. Start layering your pots. Start with a layer of tomato sauce, then aubergines, mozarella, some freshly ground black pepper, then aubergines again, tomato sauce, pecorno, aubergines, pecorino until you reach the top of the pot.
5. Put the pots in an oven pre-set to 180 degrees (top and bottom heating) and leave there for around 15 minutes until the cheese on top melts and starts to brown. Remove from the oven, leave aside for 5 minutes before you serve it (it will be piping hot at first and if you want to remove your parmigiana from the pots, it's gonna be easier if it cools down a little) Decorate with some fresh basil leaves before serving et voila!
Buon appetito!
