Some people don’t like to share their recipes. Period. I have a great aunt who shares her recipes only with her family members and has told me that she will come after me if I publish them!  Even from the grave!!!!! Ja!  I truly respect that, especially with people that make money from their recipes and in that case, I wouldn’t ask for the recipe unless they willingly offer it to me and wouldn’t publish without their permission. However, we only live once and why not “share the love” of cooking with your friends and family.  I don’t mean you should have a blog like me to post your recipes for the rest of the world to see, but I consider it flattering when someone asks for the recipe of one of my dishes. It means they liked it!

This is also my friend Mónica’s philosophy.  Among other things, we share the love to create in the kitchen.  One day, she was telling me how her grandma makes the best baked eggplant parmesan in the world.  I thought, “of course, she’s biased, its her grandma for Pete’s sake!”,  but a few weeks ago I had the chance to cook along with Mama Italia her version of Melenzane alla Parmigiana (Eggplant Parmesan).  I shall admit Mónica’s words fell short to describe it… I will say it is eccezionale!

For those of you who know me, this might not come to you as a surprise, I arrived to Mónica’s house on a Friday morning about 20 minutes late!  Not bad for Puerto Rican standards…  Anyway, Mama Italia already had peeled the eggplant ( you may leave skin if you want) and placed the slices in a bowl sprinkled with salt.  She set it aside to allow the eggplant to release its bitter juices.  After about 30 minutes, she double rinsed the eggplant under the kitchen faucet and pat the pieces dry with paper towel.  This process of salting, rinsing and draining is called “degorging”.  It also diminishes the amount of oil absorbed in the cooking process.  To me eggplant parmesan was just a fried piece of breaded eggplant served with tomato sauce and melted mozzarella.  However, Mama Italia’s version is more like an eggplant casserole layered with tomato sauce, eggs and parmesan cheese. Molto Buono!  Of course, we served it with some local Caribbean flair with sides of avocados and “amarillitos en almíbar”.

FYI, eggplant is a fruit originating from India and related to the tomato and is used to a great extent in Middle Eastern, Asian and European cuisines.

Although I have known Mónica and her brother Salvi for more than 30 years, I had never met their paternal grandmother.  I thought they called her Mama Italia because she was from Italy, but no, that is her real name; Italia!  Her father was a mechanic from a small town in Southern Italy and her mother was a Puerto Rican from the west part of the island.  She struck me as a modern woman, whom as an octogenarian, is still full of enthusiasm and joie de vivre. Always calm and collected, she answered our incessant inquiries and shared some life stories with us.  The one thing that caught my attention was how two sisters, one called Italia and the other one called América, ended up in the opposite part of the world they were named after. Italia in América and América in Italia.  As a matter of fact, she will be going soon to visit her sister who lives there with her husband and family.

I am a believer that making good food brings people together.  Cooking as a group, gives us a chance to create personal connections with others and most of all is very therapeutic!  We were a small group in attendance that day, Claudette and Ivonne (Baby Boomers) and Camelia, Paola, Mónica and I (Generation X).  I felt honored and privileged that Mónica’s grandmother would agree to transfer to us her expertise and heritage in the kitchen and will be forever grateful for that invaluable gift.

Recently I made this dish for a fishing tournament with eggplant from my organic/natural/local food delivery service and everybody loved it! Just prepared it the night before and re-heated the next day.  It goes great with salad, side of vegetables, basic white rice and/or sweet plantains.

Melenzane alla Parmigiana (Eggplant Parmesan)

Ingredients

Eggplant, peeled and cut into 1/4 of an inch strips, sprinkled with salt, about 3/4 of a pound or three small-med sized ones

flour to dredge eggplant

olive oil for frying

1 medium yellow onion halved and cut into thin slices

about 1/4 cup of bread crumbs

about 15 ounces of San Marzano tomatoes, pureéd

1 tsp salt

approximately 1 tsp sugar

fresh basil, about 8 leaves, coarsely chopped

grated fresh parmesan cheese, about 1/2 cup, you can add more if you want

4 eggs

Procedure

1.  Pre- heat oven 350º F.  Peel and cut eggplant into 1/4 inch thick strips, lengthwise.  Sprinkle generously with salt and leave to rest for about 30 minutes.  Then rinse twice and pat dry with a paper towel.

2.  Dredge pieces of eggplant in some all purpose flour. Set aside.

3.  Heat frying pan (med to med-hi), with just enough olive oil to cover the eggplant slices. Please do NOT use extra-virgin olive oil.

4.  Start frying eggplant until golden on both sides and set aside.

5.  Empty frying pan and leave some of the olive oil.  To make tomato sauce, add onions and sauté over medium heat until soft and translucent. Add pureéd San Marzano tomatoes, salt, sugar and basil leaves and bring to a simmer.  Cook for about 20 minutes in med- med/lo until you get a thick sauce.

6.  In a 2 quart oven proof pan,  spread bread crumbs throughout the bottom of the pan  (I use an 8×8 inch Pyrex crystal mold or a 2 quart rectangle dish).  Place one layer of eggplant over the bread crumbs.  Add half the tomato sauce, 2 beaten eggs and sprinkle with 1/4 of a cup of fresh parmesan cheese. Place another layer of eggplant, the remaining tomato sauce, 2 beaten eggs and finish with parmesan cheese.

7.  Bake at 350º F for about 35 minutes without covering or just until golden brown.  Let rest outside oven for about 15 minutes until it sets.