I have a great recipe for eggplant called Mulagnan a la Sicilian(pronounced Si-ja-lee-on) I copycatted from a little family restaurant on Lun Giland. Please be careful with whom you use the term 'mulignan'. In Sicilian it means eggplant, but in Italian it is a racial epithet. Believe me. I am Sicilian. I know these things!
Mulignan a la Sicilian
Ingredients:
- 2 medium sized eggplants
- Kosher salt
- ½ lb ground beef
- ¼ lb ground pork
- ¼ lb ground veal
- 1 quart of homemade tomato sauce (no jarred or canned sauce, please)
- 1½ cups of Ricotta Cheese
- 1½ cups of grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
- 1 egg
- Light olive oil
Instructions:
Preheatoven to 375oF. Lightly cover the bottom of a 13- x 9-inch baking dish (you can use ramekins to make individual servings) with tomato sauce.
Slice the eggplant about ⅛-inch thick. Place the slices on racks with paper towels underneath. Sprinkle both sides liberally with coarse salt and let stand fifteen minutes. Rinse thoroughly under cold running water, place on dry paper towels and pat dry.
While the eggplant is purging, combine the beef, pork and veal and brown them in light olive oil. Mix the ground meat with enough of yoursauce to create a thick "sloppy joe" consistency, heat through, and set aside to cool.
Combine the three cheeses and the egg in a large bowl, reserving ½ cup of the mozzarella.
In a non-stick skillet, lightly brown the eggplant slices in olive oil on both sides. The eggplant will really soak up the oil, so use it sparingly.
As they finish browning, organize the slices into sets of three ofapproximately the same diameter. Place one slice from each set of three in a single layer on the bottom of the baking dish. Divide ½ of the meat mixture and ½ of the cheese mixture evenly among the eggplant slices. Add a second eggplant slice from each set and add the remaining meat mixture, and the remaining cheese mixture among the second eggplant slices. Add the remaining eggplant slices,pour some of the tomato sauce over the eggplant slices, and coverthem with the reserved ½ cup of mozzarella. Cover the baking dish with aluminium foil.
Bake at 375F for 45 minutes, remove the foil, and bake for an additional 15 minutes, until the mozzarella is brown and bubbly. Let stand for 15 to 30 minutes. Serve with the remaining tomato sauce.
