Eggplant Parmigiana

How to prepare eggplant parmigiana

1. Prepare the tomato sauce: Grate the tomatoes. Sauté the crushed garlic in warm oil. When it starts to smell fragrant, add the tomato pulp, salt, pepper and a little sugar. Let it simmer over medium heat for 35-45 minutes, until the sauce reduces. In the last few minutes add the chopped basil. Taste for salt and sugar. Then blend it in a blender to make it smoother.
   * the tomato sauce can be prepared a day ahead
   ** you can use canned tomatoes for the sauce, but then the cooking time will be shorter, about 5-10 minutes
   *** you'll end up with more tomato sauce than needed for 2 servings, but the rest can be used for pizza, over pasta or gnocchi.
2. Crush the 6 basil leaves in a mortar with a little coarse salt until well bruised. Then add the olive oil.
3. Cut the eggplants into slices about 0.5cm thick (lengthwise if using a large dish, or rounds if using individual dishes). Sprinkle with salt on both sides and leave to drain on paper towels for at least 15 minutes. Brush with neutral oil on both sides using a brush.
4. Heat a grill pan well. Grill the eggplant slices for about 5 minutes on each side. Remove to a plate and brush the top with basil sauce.
   * if you prefer you can dredge the eggplant slices in flour and then fry them in oil; this is a faster method, but the result will be greasier
6. In a heatproof dish (or smaller individual heatproof dishes like I used), assemble as follows:
   - thin layer of tomato sauce
   - eggplant slices sprinkled with a little parmesan
   - generous layer of mozzarella drizzled with some of the remaining basil sauce
   - then repeat: tomato sauce, eggplant with parmesan, mozzarella with basil sauce... until the dish is full. The last layer should be mozzarella.
   * the assembled dish can be kept in the fridge until baking time
7. Bake at 200°C/400°F for 20-25 minutes, until the cheese is golden brown.
8. Serve warm.

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