I have decided to make my first recipe/food blog post about this simple, delicious dish! The original recipe/instructions are by the wonderful Laura Vitale, the chef of the Cooking Channel's Simply Laura and the creator of the YouTube Channel, Laura in the Kitchen. I came across this wonderful video recipe on her YouTube Channel, which I will link at the end of this post. This video was so heartwarming too, since she was at home in Italy, cooking with her Grandmother. I don't know about you, but cooking with family is something that just makes my heart whole.
Here are the ingredients she used:
INGREDIENT LIST
eggplants
salt
pepper
olive oil
Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese (get the good quality kind!)
As you may have noticed, there are no quantities provided. This is because she didn't provide any! This recipe is simple enough to do without and should be done to taste. I am one who prefers directions, but I had no problem with this at all.
I started with some gorgeous eggplants that I got a local farmer's market; it was technically a mini Chinatown-style market that had tons of fresh seafood, meat, and vegetables! Quite awesome if you ask me. As you can see, I used 3 large eggplant, each about a foot long.
Next, I sliced them into matchstick-like shapes, like Laura did.
Then, I heated up some olive oil in a saucepan (with high sides) on medium-high. Once the oil was heated up, I dropped in the eggplant and cooked them for about 6 minutes, flipping them over and stirring them in the oil occasionally. Since I had a lot of eggplant, I did the frying in two batches to avoid boiling them and to get them nice & crispy. I also adjusted the heat as I went on so as not to burn the oil and the eggplant too quickly; I wanted a nice, even fry!
While they were frying, I got my freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano ready to sprinkle over the eggplant. I keep a block of good-quality Parmigiano-Reggiano in the fridge, ready for any amazing pasta dish! This time, I had a bunch of grated cheese already left over from another recipe I made earlier on in the week. I vow to never use the cheese from the can-aisle; fresh, good-quality cheese makes ALL the difference.
Once cooled for a couple minutes, I placed the eggplant on my serving platter and topped the slices with about 2 tablespoons of my grated Parmigiano-Reggiano! The eggplant was crunchy on the outside, and soft & sweet on the inside! The cheese gave a special salty and flavorful bite to the vegetable. I loved this dish, and I will definitely make it again!
For the original video recipe, click here!
Hope you enjoyed my cooking adventure, and see you all again soon!
- 12:30 AM
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