Sharing a tasty eggplant/aubergine parmigiana has always been a summer tradition in our family. Still remember the quantities of Parmigiana my mother prepared when the eggplants were at their best. She prepared a big tray to be served the same day and many more to be frozen, so they were available all year round. And this is what we still do at home.So today is the perfect day for  a Parmigiana, with a little lighter variation.

Light Parmigiana di Melanzane 

2 big  aubergines (egg-plants) 

1 big mozzarella

800g = 3 cups peeled plum tomatoes

6 leaves of basil

¼ onion

70g =  9 tbsp.  grated Parmigiano cheese

4 tbsp. EVOO

Black pepper

Fine Salt

Rock salt.

Slice the aubergines

Place them in layers  on a tray  with kitchen paper underneath and over

Put a weight on top and leave them aside for at least one hour.

Chop the onion

Cook the onion  in a pan with 2 tbsp. olive oil, add the tomatoes, salt and pepper.

 Cook this sauce for about 20 minutes.

 Towards the end of the cooking time add the basil leaves.

Wash  the salt off  the aubergines/eggplants .

And now we do a variation from the traditional recipe,we cook the sliced egg-plants/aubergines in the oven at 200°C /400 F for 10 minutes

Slice the mozzarella 

Grease a Pyrex dish and place in it a layer of aubergines, slices of mozzarella, tomato sauce and grated parmigiano . 

Just to give an idea of the layers.

Continue in this way finishing with grated parmigiano.. 

Place the dish in the oven for 25 minutes at 200°C.   

The idea of not frying the egg plant/aubergine was a great sacrifice,then the first time we discovered that the dish is very tasty anyway, but if you want you can  stay strict to the tradition.

Don’t forget you can also  add 2 hard-boiled eggs and instead of the egg-plants you can use zucchini/courgettes.

Please, if you try this recipe let us know what you think about it .Ciao and buon appetito !