Parmigiana does not indicate a particular dish but a certain way of cooking. It originated in Southern Italy, particularly in Sicily and Campania, but is now known throughout Italy and even the world as one of our typical dishes. The most famous parmigiana is the one with aubergines and it is with this one that we begin our roundup of the many variations of this dish.
Aubergine parmigiana
We start by preparing the aubergines, a rather long process if we want them to lose that bitter taste they have. So the day before, we wash and slice our aubergines into disks of about one centimetre and place them in layers in a colander with coarse salt between each layer. On top we put a weight so that the aubergines are compressed and lose as much water as possible.
The next day wash the aubergine discs well under running water to remove all the salt and dry them well. They are now ready for our recipe.
Ingredients for 4/6 people aubergine parmigiana
4 medium-sized fresh aubergines
grams 400 of mozzarella
1.5 litres of tomato puree
grams 130 of grated cheese (parmesan or grana padano)
1 shallot
plenty of oil for frying
coarse salt kg 1
fresh basil
salt and pepper to taste
olive oil to taste
a few tablespoons of flour
Preparing aubergine parmigiana
After we have prepared our aubergines as already explained and after washing and drying them, flour them lightly and fry them in plenty of seed oil until golden brown. Once removed from the oil, pass them on blotting paper to remove excess oil.
In the meantime, prepare the sauce by chopping the shallot very finely and browning it in olive oil. As soon as it is golden, add the tomato puree, salt and pepper, a few leaves of fresh basil and leave to cook for about ten minutes or until it has thickened.
Meanwhile, cut the mozzarella into slices. Everything is now ready for our parmigiana.
Take an oven dish and after pouring a little oil on the bottom, put a couple of tablespoons of our tomato puree sauce. On top place the aubergines until they cover the surface of the dish. Now a nice sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese and a layer of mozzarella. We continue adding layers in this order until we run out of ingredients. In the last layer put only the tomato puree and lots of grated cheese on top of the aubergines. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for about 35 to 40 minutes. Serve just out of the oven.
Courgette parmigiana
This parmigiana is a variation of the more classic aubergine parmigiana, but in my opinion lighter and more digestible.
Ingredients for 4 people
6/8 medium-sized courgettes
grams 400 of mozzarella cut into slices
grams 500/600 of tomato puree
1 egg
a few basil leaves
grated cheese to taste
half a small red onion
salt and pepper
seed oil for frying the courgettes
olive oil for the sauce
parmesan cheese to taste
Preparation of the courgette parmigiana
After washing and cutting the ends off the courgettes, cut them into thin strips and fry them in plenty of seed oil.
Once fried, absorb the excess oil with paper towels.
Now prepare the sauce. Brown the finely chopped onion in a saucepan with a little olive oil, add the tomato puree, salt, pepper and basil leaves and cook for about ten minutes.
Now prepare the beaten egg with a little salt and pepper.
Cut the mozzarella into thin slices and start placing in a casserole dish, on the bottom of which you have distributed a couple of tablespoons of tomato puree sauce, the strips of courgettes to cover the surface of the casserole dish. On top put the mozzarella slices in layers and a few tablespoons of tomato puree. Now a couple of tablespoons of beaten egg and on top again a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese. Continue making layers until you run out of ingredients. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 180 degrees and bake the parmigiana for about 35 to 40 minutes.
Potato parmigiana
In this recipe there is also béchamel sauce, to make it at home I refer you to my recipe for baked lasagne where I explained the procedure. If you don't feel like making it, it can be found ready-made in any supermarket.
Ingredients potato parmigiana
1 kg yellow potatoes
grams 500 béchamel sauce
grams 150 cooked ham
grams 300 provola or caciotta cheese
salt, pepper and Parmesan cheese to taste.
Preparation of potato parmigiana
Cook the whole potatoes in boiling water for about 10 minutes. Drain the potatoes, remove the skin and cut them into thin rounds.
In an ovenproof casserole dish, spread a couple of tablespoons of béchamel sauce and layer the potatoes until the entire surface is covered, a pinch of salt and pepper. Place a couple of tablespoons of béchamel sauce on top of the potatoes, the cooked ham and the sliced provola cheese on top again. Continue placing the ingredients in this order until the end of the ingredients.
In the last layer on top of the potatoes put a nice layer of béchamel sauce and a nice sprinkling of grated cheese. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 50/55 minutes. Serve after a few minutes.
Pumpkin parmigiana
This tasty variant of parmigiana is a purely autumnal recipe.
Ingredients pumpkin parmigiana for 4 persons
1 kg pumpkin pulp
grams 250 cooked ham
grams 250 of scamorza or provola cheese
salt, grated cheese to taste
Preparation of pumpkin parmigiana for 4 persons
In the meantime, let's prepare the pumpkin, which must be cut into slices about one centimetre high. These slices should be cooked in the oven for about 10 minutes in a baking dish with baking paper and a sprinkling of olive oil.
Now, in an oven dish where you have drizzled a few drops of olive oil, place the pumpkin pieces until the entire surface is covered, continue the layers with a slice of cooked ham and slices of provola or scamorza cheese, salt to taste and continue making the layers as already mentioned until the end of the ingredients. On the last layer put only the provola cheese and grated Parmesan cheese.
Bake in a preheated oven at 200 degrees for about 20 minutes.
Another variation of the pumpkin parmigiana is to remove the cooked ham and put a layer of béchamel sauce in its place.
It is more delicate, but also delicious.
Aubergine parmigiana with yoghurt and pine nuts
For this recipe, the aubergines must be prepared the day before. Cut them into slices about 1 cm high and form layers in a colander of aubergine slices and coarse salt. Place a weight on top so that the aubergines lose all the juice they have and leave like this at least overnight.
The next day, wash the aubergines in plenty of running water, trying to remove all the salt, and dry them well.
In this recipe the aubergine slices are not fried but grilled in the oven for a few minutes. The parmigiana will be lighter.
Ingredients aubergine parmigiana with yoghurt and pine nuts
4 or 5 long aubergines treated as I wrote above
1 pot of Greek yoghurt or about 150 g
grams 50 of grated Parmesan cheese
grams 300 of tomato puree
1 tablespoon parmesan cheese for the yoghurt cream
grams 30 of pine nuts
oregano salt and pepper to taste
At this point, put a couple of tablespoons of tomato puree in a buttered oven dish and place the aubergines on top until the entire surface is covered, continue with the layers, aubergines, tomato puree, salt and oregano and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese until the end of the ingredients.
Now prepare the yoghurt cream by mixing the yoghurt with two or three tablespoons of Parmesan cheese and a pinch of salt. Pour the cream over the aubergine parmigiana which you have already prepared and place in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for about twenty minutes. After this time, place the pine nuts on top and put back in the oven using only the grill for another ten minutes or so.
Serve piping hot.
Artichoke parmigiana
First we have to clean the artichokes and this is a rather long preparation.
In the meantime, prepare a bowl with water and lemon in which we are going to wash our artichokes once cut. This is to prevent them from turning black.
Cut the top part of the artichoke at least ⅔ centimetres and also remove the harder outer leaves until we reach the heart of the artichoke. Cut also the stem leaving only 3 or 4 centimetres which you will clean to remove the hard parts.
Cut the already cleaned artichoke in two externally and clean the inside of what is called the beard, remove it with a small knife and discard it.
Now our artichokes are ready to be cut into strips and then passed in lemon and water and then dried.
Ingredients artichoke parmigiana
8 medium artichokes
grams 300 of mozzarella
grams 500 tomato puree
grams 60 of grated Parmesan cheese
1 clove of garlic
a few sage and basil leaves
1 sprig of rosemary
seed oil for frying the artichokes
white flour to flour the artichokes for frying
Preparation of artichoke parmigiana
In plenty of boiling oil, fry the sliced artichokes in flour. Remove excess oil with paper towels. Season lightly with salt.
Now prepare the tomato puree. Put a few drops of olive oil in a saucepan and fry the crushed garlic (which we will remove when it is golden), sage and rosemary. Fry for a few minutes, then add the tomato puree. Cook for about thirty minutes adding a little water at a time if the sauce should shrink too much, a little salt and when the sauce is almost ready add the basil leaves and remove from the heat.
Meanwhile, finely slice the mozzarella. Now we can start preparing the parmigiana. In a buttered oven dish, place a layer of tomato, then one of fried artichokes, then more tomato and on top the sliced mozzarella. Continue with the layers until all the ingredients are finished. On the last layer a nice sprinkling of grated Parmesan cheese.
Place in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 30 minutes. Serve piping hot.
Carrot parmigiana
Ingredients carrot parmigiana for 4 people
1 kg carrots
grams 500 of peeled chopped tomatoes
grams 150 cheese such as scamorza or caciotta
grams 80 grated Parmesan cheese
pepper, salt, oregano to taste
olive oil
Preparation of carrot parmigiana
Wash and peel the carrots, cut them into slices. In the meantime, prepare the peeled chopped tomatoes by adding salt pepper and oregano. The preparation is very simple. Make layers with the carrots, peeled tomatoes and sliced cheese. For the last layer put plenty of grated Parmesan cheese on top of the carrots. Bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 30 minutes. Allow to cool 5 minutes before serving.
This parmigiana is also delicious cold and eaten the next day.
Parmigiana with pesto
A recipe that does not include tomato, but is flavoured with pesto alla genovese (for those who would like to make pesto alla genovese at home, I refer you to the recipe for baked lasagne, where you will find the ingredients and recipe to make it)
In this case, the aubergines should be cut into one-centimetre slices and treated as usual, i.e. the day before put them in a colander with coarse salt and leave them with a weight on top overnight so that they lose all their water and that bitter taste.
Once the aubergines have been prepared, let's go and prepare the parmigiana:
Ingredients parmigiana with pesto
2 aubergines
100 grams of pesto alla genovese
2 finely sliced fior di latte mozzarellas
grams 30 of grated Parmesan cheese
enough butter
salt
Preparing parmigiana with pesto
Bake the aubergine slices in the oven or on a grill for about 20 minutes. Lightly salt.
In a buttered oven dish put a first layer of aubergine, then a layer of pesto alla genovese and one of sliced mozzarella. Do not use salt here as the pesto is already quite tasty.
Make layers until you run out of ingredients and on the last layer sprinkle plenty of Parmesan cheese. Place in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 15 minutes or until the cheese has melted. Serve hot.
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