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Eggplant Lasagna (Lasagne alle Melanzane)

by Tina Prestia
eggplant lasagna

It’s August and we are at the peak of eggplant season. Eggplant is my absolute favorite. I like it prepared in every way possible – in parmigiana, fried, grilled, roasted, pureed, stuffed, in pasta sauce, you name it. If you love eggplant as much as I do, you will want to try this heavenly, rich, yet delicate eggplant lasagna. This Lasagne alle Melanzane is filled with a delightful tomato basil sauce, fried eggplant, fresh mozzarella, scamorza cheese, prosciutto cotto (unsmoked ham), hard-boiled egg, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. It sounds like a lot but is prepared in the Italian-style, meaning, with a balanced and light touch. Hurry up and try it while eggplants and tomatoes are at their peak.

La Bella Calabria

This recipe is from Calabria where my father was born. If you have read some of my other Calabrian recipes (that I will link to later), you will have heard about my cousin Rosa, a culinary goddess. She made this eggplant lasagna for me in 2012 and I have dreamt of it repeatedly since then. This lasagna was one of the best things I had ever eaten. It literally stopped me in my tracks. I took notes at the time so that I could attempt to make it at home.

Since then, I’ve made it several times. I even tried to post this recipe last year before we took our annual trip to the US but my pictures were so dreadful that I couldn’t. Although I was bummed, I knew that testing the recipe again would not be a bad thing. Each time I made it, it came out wonderfully but it wasn’t as phenomenal or magical as hers.

Yesterday, I tried again. This time, I used fresh tomatoes vs. canned. It helped the dish significantly. I had gotten closer to my ideal but wasn’t quite there yet. I was going to wait and test it again. After eating leftovers for lunch today however, I have decided to post it! It was like a drug today! I re-heated it in the oven and let it get all crispy on top and the whole thing melded together into a delectable, creamy, eggplanty, ambrosia of scrumptiousness. I finally got it! Longer cooking time and crispy top. Eureka!

Plan ahead

I’m not going to lie. This recipe takes some effort. It’s not hard, but there are a lot of steps. To make your life easier, divide the work into a couple of days. I’d recommend that you make the sauce one day in advance, hard boil the eggs, and salt and fry the eggplants ahead of time too. Getting these tasks out of the way the day before will make the recipe less overwhelming.

The sauce and ingredients

In the recipe below I will provide two methods to make the tomato basil sauce. One version with canned and jarred tomatoes (a combo of tomato passata/puree and pomodori pelati/whole, peeled tomatoes), and the other with fresh tomatoes. Not surprisingly, the dish will be more magical with fresh August tomatoes or home jarred tomatoes. If you used store-bought canned tomatoes, try to get DOP San Marzano tomatoes. You will have better results. If you can at home and decide to make this eggplant lasagna in the cooler months, you won’t regret using your bottle of goodness for the sauce.

Calabrese cooking is generally simple yet relies on insanely delicious, fresh ingredients. I think that one of the reasons Rosa’s dish was so much better than mine was that she went to her yard to get most of the ingredients. She used her eggplants, her homegrown tomatoes, and basil, and her extra virgin olive oil, etc., As a result, it was extraordinary. Keep quality ingredients in mind.

A surprise ingredient for many of you will be the hard-boiled egg. It sounds odd, but it works, trust me. It adds an extra richness and creaminess to the dish. You will see it used in many baked pasta dishes in the south of Italy.

Keep your options open…

Before I get to the recipe, I wanted to mention that if you don’t want to make your own pasta, feel free to use boxed – either the no-boil variety or the kind that you pre-boil. The eggplant lasagna will still be delicious. Don’t kill yourself.

For the cheeses, I use fresh fior di latte (cow’s milk mozzarella), scamorza, and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese. You may substitute the fior di latte with Mozzarella da Bufala if you wish. Also, you may change the scamorza to provola or caciocavallo cheese. Make it your own. The ham (prosciutto cotto) in the recipe is unsmoked and not too salty. If desired, use cubed soppressata instead. That would be insanely delicious and I often put it in my Pasta al Forno.

I have kept the quantities of the cheese rather low by American standards. I urge you to try it this way. You might be surprised that lasagna can be elegant. In Italy, unlike America, lasagna is not a goopy mess of oozing cheese. Cheese yes, 5 pounds of it no. Sorry!

A note on frying

Rosa fried her eggplants but you don’t have to. The dish is richer and more decadent with the fried eggplant but broiled or grilled eggplant would also be wonderful. If you do decide to fry, I recommend salting the eggplants for an hour. (The salting process makes the eggplants take in less oil and they achieve a creamier texture. In addition, the inherent sweetness in the eggplant comes out.) If you have a fresh and shiny eggplant, bitterness will not be an issue.

Recipe for Eggplant Lasagna (Lasagne alle Melanzane) and other Calabrian dishes

If you are interested in other recipes from Calabria, check out my recipe for Calabrian Stuffed Eggplants, Spaghetti alla Corte d’Assise (spaghetti in a spicy Calabrian tomato sauce), Spaghetti with Fresh Tomato, Potato & Basil, and lastly, my version of my Aunt’s Italian Lentil Soup.

Enjoy my recipe for eggplant lasagna! Let me know how it works out.

eggplant lasagna
Delicious eggplant lasagna taking a little rest after baking.
eggplant lasagna

Eggplant Lasagna (Lasagne alle Melanzane)

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Serves: 4-6
Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat
Rating: 5.0/5
( 3 voted )

Ingredients

  • 1.5-2 kg (3-3.5 lbs) eggplant, preferably smaller
  • coarse sea salt or kosher salt
  • neutral or olive oil for frying
  • For the sauce:
  • 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, or more to taste
  • 1 small onion (about 1/4-1/3 cup) chopped
  • 1 large clove garlic, minced or crushed (your preference)
  • If using canned/jarred tomatoes:
  • 1 800 gram (28 oz) can pomodori pelati (whole, canned tomatoes), crushed by hand
  • 1 700 gram (24 oz) jar tomato passata (puree)
  • If using fresh tomatoes:
  • 2,300 grams (5 lbs) fresh plum tomatoes
  • salt, to taste
  • 1 handful fresh basil leaves, or more to taste
  • For the pasta dough:
  • 100 grams 00 flour, or unbleached all-purpose flour (I recommend measuring your flour by weight, not volume)
  • 100 grams finely ground durum wheat flour (farina di grano duro rimacinata)
  • 1 large egg
  • water, as needed, approximately 50-75 ml
  • For the filling:
  • 70-100 grams (3 oz) thinly sliced ham, unsmoked (prosciutto cotto), torn into large pieces
  • 3 hard-boiled eggs, sliced and torn
  • 150-200 grams (5 oz) fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced, torn, drained and patted dry
  • 150 grams (5 oz) scamorza cheese, thinly sliced
  • 50 grams (3/4 cup) Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, freshly grated, or more to taste

Instructions

  1. Slice the eggplant lengthwise into 1/4-inch thick slices (skin on or off, as desired). Layer the eggplant slices with salt and place them in a colander set into a large bowl. Weigh down the eggplant slices with a plate with a heavy object on top, such as a can of tomatoes or a heavy pot. Let sit for an hour. Rinse and pat dry very well. Fry in a half-inch of oil in a large skillet until golden on each side (adding extra oil as necessary). Drain well on paper towels and pat each slice with a paper towel to remove all excess oil.
  2. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. If using fresh tomatoes, proceed as follows. Core and cut the tomatoes in half. Squeeze out some of the seeds and juices and place the tomatoes in a large stockpot. Add water to about half the height of the tomatoes. Bring to a boil and wilt the tomatoes, stirring gently for 2-4 minutes until they look soft enough to place through a food mill with a fine disc. Drain the tomatoes well in a colander and puree them in a food mill which will remove the skins and any leftover seeds. You should have about 1 1/2 liters/quarts of tomato puree. 
  3. To prepare the sauce with either canned tomatoes or the fresh tomato puree, heat the extra virgin olive oil in a large stockpot. Gently cook the onion until translucent and beginning to get tender, adding a pinch of salt as you put it in the pan. Next, add the garlic and cook gently for a few minutes until it starts smelling sweet. (If using a whole clove vs. minced, you may remove it if desired after it begins to get golden, or keep it in the sauce as it cooks and remove it at the end.) Add the jarred tomato puree and the hand-crushed tomatoes or the fresh tomato puree. Make sure to rinse out the jar and can with some water and add it to the pot. Don't waste any tomatoes! Season with salt and bring to a simmer. Cook until you have a nice thick sauce, about 1-1 1/2 hours. At the end of cooking, adjust the seasoning and add the basil, tearing the leaves by hand before you throw them into the pot. You should have about 3 cups of sauce. 
  4. Next, make the pasta dough. Combine the two flours in a bowl after you have measured them. Place the flours on a clean work surface and form a well in the center by creating a circular wall of flour with enough space in the center to hold your liquid. Crack the egg into the well and start beating it with a fork, adding the flour bit by bit in a circular motion from the surrounding wall of flour to create a smooth dough that is moist, yet firm, and not sticky. Add water as necessary, little by little until the dough comes together. Once you’ve incorporated all of the flour into the eggs and water, gently knead the dough until it’s very smooth, pliable and doesn’t stick to your hands. Add flour as necessary to achieve the right consistency. It should take about 10-15 minutes. Let the dough rest, wrapped in plastic wrap for at least 30 minutes to an hour. (Or, place the dough on a plate and cover tightly with a bowl, making sure no air is getting in.)
  5. While your dough rests, prep the filling ingredients and put a large pot of water on to the boil. Preheat the oven to 350 F/180 C.
  6. Next, roll out your dough. If you know how to do it by hand with a rolling pin, roll it out until thin but not too thin (about 1/2 mm). If using a pasta machine, divide the dough into 4 pieces, covering those not in use. Flatten each piece, sprinkle lightly with flour, and run it through the #1 setting 2-3 times, folding over each time, add a little flour as necessary so that it doesn't stick. Next, run the pieces through the pasta machine, narrowing the setting each time, without folding over. Handle with care and roll out until about 1/2 mm thick. (This doesn't have to be super delicate.) Proceed with the other pieces and let rest about 10 minutes. Cut the pieces as necessary if they get too long to work with. Once they've sat and become less sticky, cut them into 5-6-inch lengths, so they will fit into your pan.
  7. Set a large bowl of ice water next to your stove and get some tongs and a skimmer ready to help you quickly blanch the pasta. Line a large sheet tray with a kitchen towel. Have several clean kitchen towels ready to make layers of blanched pasta.
  8. Take 4 pieces of lasagna at a time and place in the boiling water. Stir delicately and take them out immediately once they float to the top, using the skimmer and tongs. This should take about 15 seconds. Take them out and place in the ice water, stirring to keep them from sticking. Place all of the dried and blanched dough on your sheet pan and layer between towels. Do this with all of the dough. Make sure the pasta is not touching or it will stick. Set aside.
  9. With this amount of dough, you should have enough pasta to make 6 layers of lasagna in a 9x9-inch/22x22 cm baking dish (mine is 2 1/2-inches/6 cm tall). Divide your filling ingredients into 5 so that you have an even amount for each layer. Set aside your 4 prettiest pieces of eggplant for the top. To assemble the lasagna, place a thin layer of sauce at the bottom of your baking dish.  Next, add a layer of eggplant. Then add a layer of pasta, 1/5th of the ham, 1/5 of the egg, and 1/5th of the scamorza and mozzarella cheeses, and top with Parmigiano-Reggiano. Add about  1/3 cup (heaping) of sauce on top and proceed with the next 4 layers in the same manner. Once you have used up your ham, eggs, and mozzarella and scamorza cheeses, add a layer of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, another layer of sauce and eggplant, then top with a last layer of pasta and the rest of your sauce, spreading it evenly. Top with a generous layer of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and place your last pieces of eggplant on top.
  10. Bake, on a sheet pan to catch any drippings for approximately 45 minutes until bubbling and golden on top. If you like the top extra crunchy at the corners, you can very briefly and carefully place the lasagna under the broiler, taking care not to burn it! For the best results, let the lasagna sit a minimum of 15 minutes, preferably 25-30 minutes to let it set.

 

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3 comments

Rob January 9, 2021 - 1:07 PM

Lo Cucineremo Domani.

Reply
Tina January 9, 2021 - 3:59 PM

Yay!!!

Reply
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