Melanzane Fritte ( Fried Eggplant )

I had to facetime with my mom and aunt to remember how to make these :) I remember the flavor from my years living in Italy and when Josh saw gorgeous eggplants at Sheridan's, we jumped on this dish idea head first!

It's definitely one that takes a bit of planning and time to make, but it's oh so worth it in the end!

I even made my own bread crumbs... which is super easy to do, bty ;)

Ingredients (for two people):

• dry / stale bread (I always freeze bread that I don't get a chance to eat before it gets stale) for making home made bread crumbs OR you can always buy ready-made bread crumbs
• 3 medium sized eggplants
• extra virgin olive oil
• pesto (see previous blog post for the recipe to make it at home)

Method for home made bread crumbs:

• cut up the dry/stale bread into even sizes (about 1 square inch)
• dry/toast the pieces of bread in the oven for an hour or so at a very low 250 degrees (until the little pieces of bread crumble to the touch - they have to be dry throughout)
• once toasted, place handfuls of the little bread pieces in a food processor and pulverize it all until you get even powdery bread crumbs like in the image below

Method for preparing the eggplant:

• slice the eggplant into 1/4 inch slices
• place on cookie drying sheet spaced evenly
• sprinkle salt on each slice to cover each evenly
• wait 30 minutes to allow for the salt to "sweat" the eggplant (you'll see water beading on the slices, this is a good thing!)
• after 30 minutes, dab each slice with paper towel (press pretty hard in order to absorb the water)
• this dies the eggplant so it won't be watery and slimy when cooked

Method for cooking the fried eggplant dish:

• pour a batch of bread crumbs on a plate
• coat a few slices of eggplant in the crumbs evenly (the partial wetness of the slices will allow the crumbs to stick - it's a very light bread crumb coating anyway, nothing super thick :)

• the olive oil should already be at temperature in a heave pan
• gently place a few slices at a time in the hot oil and let each side crust up (only turn the slices once in the whole frying process or you'll end up taking the bread crumbs off)
• eggplant slices are ready when the bread crumbs are browned (just like toasted bread would be)

• place each slice on paper towel and leave them there to harden
• repeat this frying process until all the slices are cooked evenly

Final dish I made:

• use only the yummiest fresh baked bread! Bread is a huge part of my final dish so it's definitely important to use fresh Ciabatta, or Como, or Artisan breads (if it's fresh and recently purchased, you don't even need to toast it! ;)
• spread a light coating of pesto on one slice

• Place a few slices of the fried eggplant on the pesto

• cover with the second slice
• EAT AND LOVE! :)

• if you end up with extra fried eggplant slices like I did... ooooh they are SO delicious on their own too! Crispy, flavorful, chip-like snacks! Even cold!

Welcome to my little slice of Italy! <3