Individual aubergine parmigiana

dairy Italian · regular · 85 min, including 35 hands-on

Two small bakes of salted, drained and roasted aubergines, garlic and basil tomato sauce, fior di latte between the layers and a Grana crust: a tender, golden hot starter in a measured portion.

Ingredients for two

Method

1. Tear the mozzarella and put in a sieve in the fridge to drain from the start, for 30 minutes. Cut the long, firm aubergines lengthways into 7 mm slices, then halve the slices to fit the 12 cm dishes. Salt both sides with 3 g salt, 1% of their weight, and leave in a colander for 20 minutes until droplets bead on the surface. Preheat the oven to 220°C fan. Crush the tomatoes by hand in their juice, 300 g or three-quarters of the tin; the rest keeps for 3 days in a jar in the fridge, for bruschetta.
2. Thoroughly blot the slices with kitchen paper, without rinsing. Brush both sides with 30 g oil (3 tbsp), arrange without overlapping on a tray lined with baking paper and roast for 20–22 minutes, turning after 12 minutes. They should be golden on both sides, with translucent flesh that bends without breaking and yields easily to a knife tip. For a more traditional alternative, fry for 3 minutes per side in the same amount of oil.
3. While the aubergines roast, heat 8 g oil in a small saucepan over a medium-low heat. Cook the garlic for 1 minute until only pale golden, without browning. Add the crushed tomatoes and juice and 2 g salt, then simmer uncovered for 18–20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until thick, with no free water, and coating a spoon. Off the heat, tear in 4 basil leaves.
4. Grate the Grana. Pat the drained mozzarella dry in a clean tea towel. Oil both dishes with the remaining 2 g oil. Take the aubergines out and lower the oven to 190°C, still on fan.
5. Assemble the bakes: put 1 tbsp sauce in each dish, then a layer of aubergine, 2 whole basil leaves, 1 tbsp sauce, a quarter of the mozzarella and a pinch of Grana. Repeat once, so all the mozzarella sits in the two inner layers, never on top. Finish with a layer of aubergine, 2 basil leaves, the remaining sauce and 60% of the Grana, about 9 g per bake, to form a thin brown crust. Divide everything evenly between the dishes.
6. Bake in the middle of the oven for 18–20 minutes, until the edges bubble and the Grana forms a thin golden crust. Move the dishes down a shelf if the top colours too quickly.
7. Take both bakes out and rest on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Serve hot in their dishes: the layers should hold together without releasing water, and the aubergine should be meltingly tender.

On your plate

Cooking tips

A dairy starter: serve before pasta, pizza or fish, never before a meat main course. The portion is deliberately starter-sized, without added bread. Salting the aubergines and draining the mozzarella prevent a watery parmigiana; do not skip them. An aubergine still spongy before assembly will not become meltingly tender during twenty minutes of baking. Assemble both dishes the day before and refrigerate; reheat covered at 180°C, then uncover to brown.

Equipment : colander, baking tray, baking paper, pastry brush, small saucepan, 2 ramekins or dishes, 12 cm across and at least 5 cm deep, or one 15 × 20 cm dish with the same timings, grater, wire rack

Southern Italian parmigiana di melanzane from Naples and Sicily, with roasted aubergines and small portions adapted for a starter.