All right, let's start the 2013 with a burst of taste and deliciousness:

Eggplant Parmesan Recipe

Enjoy! Ciao!

Buongiorno, Cinzia, e buon Capo d'Anno! I love aubergines alla parmigiana and your recipe sounds scrumptious. I shall cook it to remind me of hot, lazy summer days in the middle of a grey, chilly winter.

I just watched the Chew and they were making Eggplant Parmasan Stacks. They took slices of eggplant made slits and inserted paper thin slices of garlic and then popped it in the oven. Then removed them and added sauce on top of slice, mozzarella, slice of eggplant, parmasan cheese and some bread crumbs that were previously browned...popped it back in the oven till cheese melted added some fresh basil to the stack also. Apparently this is a lighter version. (check out the Chew with Jewel for 1/4/13 for recipe and video)

Some people bread and some just dredge on flour. I like to make mine dipped in flour, egg and then bread crumbs. Then I layer and finish off the way you did Cinzia. My MIL jsut took a can of sauce and added it to pan that had garlic first sauteed in olive oil, added some oregano salt an peper to taste. Simmered while doing the eggplant. Was a simple and light marinara sauce. That's how I do mine.

I think the taste is better if you use a really good tomato sauce. I also like the eggplant peeled and sliced a bit on the thin side.

Debbie, I understand your point for the sauce; however this is the way it is done in Italy and if you never had it, I can assure you that the result is surprisingly different and much tastier than the common eggplant Parmesan served in the U.S. You should try. It is amazing to me for example how what they call here "marinara sauce" is used so much here, even on pizza, and often it simply overpowers all the rest of the ingredients. Good quality ingredients, balance and good preparation will give you always the best results.

In regard to the eggplant skin, I understand that pint too, but it really boils down to quality of eggplants. Larger sizes tend to have a thicker skin and are also too spongy, even with less taste sometimes. Small-medium size, in-season eggplants are always the best.

Nice. Being the traditional Italian that I am, I would never bread them when layered in a casserole, but I am sure it is tasty!

Sounds original and fun.

Buon Capodanno anche a te! Cook you winter away!

Cinzia, this is the way my mother made the dish. My father taught her to cook Italian. His mother was from Alberobello and his father was from Palmi, RC.

I recall her salting the slices and stacking them with a weight on top. This is probably why mine never tastes as good - I don't do that. I'll have to go back to the original recipe.

Thanks so much.

You are so very welcome! Great towns both, where your grandparents were from, amazing food there. I am glad you can appreciate true, traditional cucina italiana.

Take care.

I always salted my eggplant too but in the same show Mario Batali said that salting was always done to remove bitterness but that they found out that is not true now and is not really necessary. I am a creature of old habits so will probably still do the way I was taught. (BTW my MIL is from Naples..born and raised till they moved to the Bronx)

My grandparents met in NY and lived in Brooklyn. Unfortunately, I never knew them.

Cinzia.....I am talking about a homemade delicate tomato sauce, not the marinaras out there today. An Italian woman I know makes a lovely sauce that complements the eggplant parmesan she makes. It is not overpowered at all, and I know what you mean by that. I may just try your recipe. Thank you!