Eggplant Parmesan

Eggplant parmesan is one of my favorite all-time dishes...when it's done right. I've had some truly terrible ones. Sometimes it's the sauce that's horrible. (Don't get me started on Italian restaurants that don't have a decent sauce. I mean, come on, it's in like half the dishes. If the sauce sucks, so does practically everything there.) But more often it's the eggplant itself. There's the undercooked eggplant, which is totally inedible (the texture is nasty). There's the super oily eggplant, which is just gross. I've even had dried out eggplant that resembles shoe leather. So I think if you have a good sauce and you cook your eggplant correctly, your eggplant parm will be decent. If you want to go the extra mile, spring for really good quality cheese and add some fresh basil...then you might pass decent and make it all the way to excellent.

 EGGPLANT PARMESAN

Yield: 8 servings

2 to 3 medium eggplants (about 2 ¼ lb.), sliced ½” thick

2 cups all purpose flour (lightly seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper)

4 large eggs, beaten with 1-2 tablespoons water

3 cups plain breadcrumbs (lightly seasoned with salt and freshly ground black pepper)

extra-virgin olive oil as needed for frying

1 ½ quarts homemade Rao's marinara sauce

1 ½ lb. shredded (or thinly sliced) mozzarella (preferably buffalo mozzarella from Italy)

16 basil leaves

1/2 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano

________________________________________________________________________

1.      Place eggplant slices in a large colander and sprinkle generously with kosher salt. Toss and let sit for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 ½ hours. Rinse well with cold water to remove the salt and drain. You can skip this entire step, but I think it improves the texture and removes some bitterness.

2.      Heat roughly 1/4” oil in a large, heavy skillet. Dredge the sliced eggplant slices in the flour, shaking off the excess. Dip in egg mixture, then breadcrumbs. Fry the eggplant until golden brown on both sides. Drain on paper towels.

3.      Heat oven to 350º F.

4.      Coat the bottom of a deep 9- x 13-inch baking pan with about 1/3 of the marinara sauce. Add a single layer of eggplant. Sprinkle with half the parmigiano-reggiano, half the basil (tearing the leaves as you go) and 1/3 of the mozzarella. Repeat the layering process (starting with more sauce). Top with the remaining sauce and mozzarella.

5.      Cover and bake for 20 minutes until cheese is melted. Let sit for 5 minutes. Serve hot.

eggplants

salted eggplant slices

dipping in flour

dipping in egg

dipping in breadcrumbs

frying

Make sure the oil is nice and hot (the eggplant should sizzle
when it hits the pan). Otherwise the eggplant just sits there
soaking up oil. That's how you get greasy eggplant parmesan.

eggplant layered over marinara sauce

I had enough slices that I could tear
up a few and fill in some of the gaps

sprinkled with parmigiano-reggiano and basil

topped with mozzarella
(I prefer buffalo mozzarella, but you can use regular.)

I continued layering, but forgot to take a
photo of the uncooked finished product...

...but here's the baked eggplant parmesan

sliced, in the pan

I also forgot to take a photo of a piece on a plate,
but I found a photo from the last time I made this,
so that's what's up at the top of the page.

.

Chicken Parmesan

I'm assuming most of you carnivores have had chicken parmesan by now (probably lots of it). So what makes a good chicken parm? In my opinion, the responsibility lies mostly with the sauce. I guess that's true for a lot of Italian dishes. If you have a great marinara recipe, you're halfway there. The other thing I suggest is a nice buffalo mozzarella if you can find it. In my opinion, the flavor is superior to cow's milk mozzarella (it's just more robust) and super creamy. Topping the whole thing off with fresh basil really seals the deal.

CHICKEN PARMESAN

Yield: 4 to 6 servings

3 cups homemade marinara sauce

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

salt and freshly ground black pepper as needed

1 cup plain dried bread crumbs

4 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts (about 1 ½ pounds)

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon water

3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 (8 oz.) ball fresh buffalo mozzarella, water drained and grated

freshly grated parmesan

1/4 bunch fresh basil leaves, torn

1.      Preheat oven to 450º F.

2.      Place the flour on a plate or in a shallow pan and season with salt and pepper; mix to combine. Place the bread crumbs on a plate or in a shallow pan and season with salt and pepper; mix to combine. In a shallow pan or wide bowl, whisk together the eggs and water.

3.      Place the chicken breasts side by side on a cutting board and lay a piece of plastic wrap over them. Pound the chicken breasts with a flat meat mallet, until they are about 1/2-inch thick.

4.      Heat olive oil over medium-high heat in a large oven-proof skillet. Lightly dredge both sides of the chicken cutlets in the seasoned flour. Dip in the egg wash to coat completely, letting the excess drip off, then dredge in the bread crumbs.

5.      When the oil is nice and hot, add the cutlets and fry for 4 minutes on each side until golden and crusty, turning once.

6.      Ladle the tomato sauce over the chicken and sprinkle with mozzarella, parmesan, and basil. Bake for 15 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly. Serve hot with spaghetti.

adapted from Tyler Florence

pounding the chicken

dredging in flour

dipping in egg

coated in bread crumbs

golden and crusty

grated buffalo mozzarella

It's so creamy, it mostly just falls apart.

sauced

sprinkled with cheeses

topped with basil

If you don't like the look of the basil on top,
you can always put it on before the cheese.

chicken parmesan

My cat Pierre was in this position the entire time I was
cooking. Clearly he's super thoughtful and trying to save me
money on costly kitty chiropractor bills by aligning his own spine.

.

Rao's Meatballs

If you read Wednesday's post, you already know how much I like Rao's marinara sauce. And while I was on their website looking up that recipe, I spotted this one for meatballs. But since it's practically impossible to get into Rao's restaurant, I've never actually tasted their meatballs, so I have nothing to compare these to. But I can tell you that I liked these better than the meatballs I used to make (which were pretty good), so now these are my new meatballs.

Side note: If anyone knows anyone, who knows anyone, who knows Frankie No (or anyone he knows) and thinks they can get me a reservation, let me know. We can go together (if you don't mind dining with someone you met in cyberspace). My treat.

RAO’S MEATBALLS

Makes about 28 meatballs

1 pound ground lean beef

½ pound ground veal

½ pound ground pork

2 large eggs

1 cup freshly grated Pecorino Romano cheese

1 ½ tablespoons chopped Italian parsley

½ small garlic clove, peeled and minced

2 cups bread crumbs

2 cups lukewarm water

salt & black pepper to taste

1 cup Rao’s extra virgin olive oil

7 cups Rao’s marinara sauce for simmering (homemade or jarred)

______________________________________________________________________

1.      Combine beef, veal, and pork in a large bowl. Add eggs, cheese, parsley, garlic, and salt and pepper to taste. Using your hands, blend ingredients together.

2.      Blend bread crumbs into meat mixture. Slowly add water,1 cup at a time, until the mixture is quite moist.

3.      Shape the meat mixture into balls (2½ to 3 inch balls).

4.      Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan. When oil is very hot but not smoking, fry meatballs in batches. When bottom half of meatball is very brown and slightly crisp turn and cook top half. Remove from heat and drain on paper towels.

5.      Lower cooked meatballs into simmering marinara sauce and cook for 15 minutes. Serve over pasta or on their own.

from Rao’s Restaurant, NYC

ground beef and pork (I couldn't find veal without
hormones and antibiotics etc., so I just left it out)

meat, eggs, cheese, spices & breadcrumbs

mixed

adding water

water mixed in

frying rolled balls

flipped

going in to the sauce

submerged

Rao's meatball (cross section)

If you want to make them rounder, you can take the
time to flip them onto their sides during frying so
they'll even out. But I didn't think it mattered enough to
take the time. No one ever turned down a flat meatball.

.

Rao's Marinara Sauce

I consider this both a "favorite things" post and a recipe post because Rao's is hands down my favorite jarred marinara sauce ever. Some of you may have seen it at the grocery store and just kept walking because it's pretty pricey. Okay, very pricey. I've seen the larger jars sell for over $10. But I would submit to you that if you have the money in your budget, it's worth it. And it does go on sale sometimes. It was only $5.99 the other day at the A&P, so I bought 10 jars. Okay, it was 12 jars. I felt a little stupid at the register, but now I feel comforted knowing they're in my basement. I feel the same way about our fifty pack of toilet paper and my industrial size box of tampons. 

Now even though Rao's jarred sauce is great, I do like to make homemade sauce when I can, so it occurred to me that maybe I could find the Rao's recipe online. I didn't have to look far (it's on their website). So I made it and it rivaled the jarred stuff (which is a weird thing to say because usually it's a miracle if something in a jar can compare to homemade, not the other way around). But in this case, rivaling the jar was a good thing. But don't take my word for it, go ahead and give it a try.

RAO’S MARINARA SAUCE

Yield: 7 cups

4 (28 oz.) cans imported Italian plum tomatoes with basil, preferably San Marzano

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

4 oz. fatback or salt pork, cut in small pieces (optional)

6 tablespoons minced onion

4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

salt to taste

12 leaves fresh basil torn, optional

pinch dried oregano

black pepper, to taste

___________________________________________________________________

1.      Remove tomatoes from the can, reserving the juice in which they are packed. Using your hands, crush the tomatoes, gently remove and discard the hard core from the stem end and any skin or tough membrane. Set aside.

2.      Put oil in a large saucepan over medium-low heat. If using fatback, add to the pan and saute for about 5 minutes or until all fat has been rendered. Remove and discard fatback.

3.      Add onion and saute for 3 minutes or until translucent and just beginning to brown.

4.      Stir in garlic and saute for 30 seconds or until just softened.

5.      Stir in tomatoes, reserved juice, and salt. Raise heat, and bring to a boil. Immediately reduce heat to a very low simmer and cook for about 1 hour or until flavors have combined and sauce is slightly thickened. If you prefer a thicker sauce, cook for an additional 15 minutes.

6.      Stir in basil, oregano, and pepper, and cook for an additional minute. Remove from heat and serve.

from Rao’s Restaurant, NYC

jar of Rao's marinara sauce
(available at most supermarkets)

ingredients from the back of the jar

Obviously they don't use the pork
when they make this to sell in jars.

These were the only San Marzano tomatoes I could find.

crushing the tomatoes

salt pork

removing cooked salt pork

cooking onions

adding garlic

adding tomatoes

mixed and cooking

adding basil, oregano and pepper

homemade Rao's marinara sauce

.