Not Quite a Blog

One of my favorite cooks and restauranteurs is Mario Batali.

I'm not exactly sure why, but I use to not really like Batali. Maybe it's because he uses a lot of meat and we don't eat much of that around here. Well, after eating one of the best meals of my life at Esca in New York City, I totally re-evaluated what I thought of him and his cooking. That night, over a nice bottle of Gruner Veltliner and a plate of homemade pasta in a sea urchin sauce, I decided to pay more attention to Mario Batali. He's a formidable opponent on Iron Chef America, and his dishes are fun and easy to make.

The following recipe is an eggplant parmesan recipe of Batali's. I've modified it a bit; I can never make a recipe without some modification. This makes about 8 portions, two of which and a fresh salad make a very hearty meal.

(Joe's Take on) Batali's Parmigiana di Melanzane

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds good eggplant (late summer to early fall)
• Salt
• 4 tablespoons (and then some) extra-virgin olive oil
• a few egg yolks (3-4... start with one) and a bit of water
• 1 cup Panko bread crumbs
• 1/4 finely chopped fresh basil leaves
• 1/4 cup finely grated pecorino romano
• 2 cups tomato sauce, (see below)
• 1 lb. fresh mozzarella in large balls, thinly sliced (1/4-inch)
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Wash and dry the eggplant. Slice the eggplant into 1/4-inch thick rounds. Sprinkle slices generously with salt, place the slices in a large colander and set aside to rest about 30 minutes (or longer) with the colander sitting on a few paper towels (this pulls water out of the eggplant, so we want to catch that stuff with the paper towels).
3. Make the tomato sauce; recipe below (while the tomato sauce is reducing, you can prepare a salad).
4. Make an egg wash by taking putting 3 egg yolks in a bowl and adding a bit of water (a Tbsp. or so). Add the basil and romano to the bread crumbs (have more of this stuff on hand if the mixture gets lame near the end of cooking the eggplant... and you'll need some for constructing the parmigiana).
5. Now it is time to bread and cook the eggplant: first, rinse the eggplant to remove excess salt and dry with towels. In a sauté pan, heat olive oil until damn hot. Press the drained eggplant pieces into the eggwash, then into the seasoned bread crumb mixture and sauté until light golden brown on both sides. Remove to a plate or large bowl lined with paper towels. Repeat with all of the eggplant.
6. Prepare the parmigiana: on a cookie sheet place the 8 largest pieces of eggplant. Sprinkle a 1/2 Tbsp. of the bread crumb mixture over each piece of eggplant. Place 2 Tbsp. of tomato sauce over each eggplant slice and place a thin slice of mozzarella on top of each. Sprinkle with Parmigiano. Then, continue layering by topping each with the next smallest piece of eggplant, then sauce then mozzarella and finally with Parmigiano. Repeat the layering process until all the ingredients have been used, finishing again with the Parmigiano (This requires having multiples of eight in eggplant and mozzarella... make do as best you can and don't be afraid to end each stack with a half slice of eggplant and mozzarella).
7. Place the pan in the oven and bake about 15 minutes, turning once (quickly) while cooking. If tops aren't browned, remove from the oven, turn on the broiler and brown the tops for about a couple of minutes when the broiler is hot.

Simple Tomato Sauce

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup fine olive oil
• 1 red onion, dice
• 4 cloves garlic, sliced
• 3 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, finely chopped
• 1 medium carrot, very finely chopped
• 2 (28-ounce) cans peeled whole tomatoes (I like San Marzano)
• about 1 tsp. Salt (but salt to taste, damnit, not to recipe!)

Directions:

1. In a large saucepan, heat olive oil over medium heat.
2. Add the onion and garlic and cook until soft and light golden brown, about 8 to 10 minutes.
3. Add the thyme and carrot and cook 5 minutes more, until the carrot is quite soft.
4. Add the whole tomatoes with their juice and bring to a boil, stirring frequently.
5. Lower the heat to a simmer and cook for 30-45 minutes until the sauce is "as thick as hot cereal". Season liberally with salt and serve (or cool for use in the recipe above).