Melanzane Pangrattato

As you know we love to cook with aubergine and our Grandma Strazzanti used to make this dish for us often it’s a great alternative for meat but equally delicious with thin cuts of beef or chicken.

Aubergines are integral to Sicilian cuisine and where we are from in central Sicily they are in abundance, so we have many a recipe for an Aubergine! We tend to have this dish for our second course after the pasta but it’s also great if you are having a buffet or picnic, especially when you place it inside a crusty loaf of bread with thin layers of Pecorino cheese running through it!

Serve with a cold crisp refreshing beer – Salute!

Buon Appetito,

Sofia, Nina & Emilia Strazzanti

Method

Wash your aubergine & slice into 1-inch rounds and place to the side.

In a large bowl mix together the breadcrumbs, mint, oregano & grated pecorino cheese also placing to the side.

In another bowl crack in your eggs whisking them well so they are completely broken up.

On a large plate pour in your flour and season with a good pinch of table salt mixing well.

This method that we will be using to coat the aubergine is called to “Pane” which is simply putting the aubergine through flour, eggs and then the breadcrumbs.

You want to make sure you are set up and ready to go with all components in place to start the Pane process.

To Pane

Take your aubergine slices and pass through the flour shaking off any excess flour and then placing in the whisked eggs making sure to coat the aubergine well.

Then place the aubergine inside the breadcrumbs and press the breadcrumbs firmly onto the aubergine.

Repeat this process until all the aubergines are bread crumbed and keep to the side on a plate ready for frying.

Once the aubergines are ready, heat up a large frying pan and add in a good inch of olive oil or if you prefer any other oil to fry in.

Make sure the oil is at a medium heat because if it is too hot the breadcrumbs will burn, and the aubergine won’t cook and if the oil is too cold then the breadcrumbs will become soggy.

Fry each slice of breaded aubergine for 3-4 minutes on each side until lovely and golden and cooked all the way through.

Place on kitchen roll to drain any of the excess oil and season with sea salt.

Serve straight away still warm or even better once cooled!

Tips

• You can also use fresh mint if you prefer just finely shred it into pieces around 15g fresh will do!