Eggplant Parmigiana Bianca
The American translation of this is Parmesan Blanco, but either way it refers to a white cheese sauce. Recently I began to wonder why, in my world Parmigiana (Parmesan) whether eggplant, chicken or anything else always had tomato sauce included. Since Parma in Italy is where the cheese originates, I (wrongly) assumed that dishes labeled Parmesan or Parmigiana refer to the cheese and not a regional style of cooking.
Some research taught me that Parmigiana (translated of or from Parma) is indeed a regional style of cooking and does not refer specifically to the cheese. Even more interesting; Parmigiana is typically sliced and cooked eggplant layered with tomato sauce and cheeses -- not necessarily Parmesan cheese, and that chicken, and veal parm are western adaptations as the true Italian dish is vegetarian.
Some say that eggplant is an acquired taste and other will tell you that they will never acquire it. A coworker of the later mentality brought me a bag of beautiful Italian eggplants which are smaller and thinner than your garden variety and in my opinion, sweeter. Since I had that yummy cheese broth in my freezer, and my Parmigiana research introduced me to Eggplant Parmigiana Bianca, I set out to make it.
Step 1 was to come up with the white cheese sauce: Not unlike many of my recipes, I started out by sweating some aromatics in olive oil and butter. Once the shallots and onions were beginning to turn golden, I whisked in some flour and some cornstarch partially to make a roux and to hopefully keep the cheese sauce from getting stringy and gloppy.
Once the roux became a light golden color, I added one of my cheese broth 'bricks' and melted it into the mix. At this point, I removed the sauce from the heat and let it sit while I prepared the eggplant.
Since the eggplants were small, after peeling, I cut them into sticks instead of the more traditional rounds of lengthwise slices. I have pretty much stopped frying eggplant and instead do an 'oven-fry' on a baking sheet. Aside from the actual cooking method, the prep is the same. I like to use a combination of mayonnaise and beaten eggs to coat the eggplant before dredging in a seasoned breadcrumb / flour mixture.
I whisk the egg and mayo in a bowl large enough to hold the eggplant so that I can simply toss it in the coating and then remove one piece at a time to dredge and set on the prepared baking sheet. The way I prepare the baking sheet is to use either a silicone or parchment liner and brush it with olive oil to coat. Then, after the breaded eggplant is in a single layer on the sheet, I give it a spray of olive oil so that both the top and bottom of each piece has an olive oil coating.
After 15 minutes, I turn them over and bake for another 15 minutes until they are golden and bubbling.
While the eggplant cooled, I continued with the cheese sauce experiment -- which it totally was a: "Hmmm, I wonder it this will work?" Spoiler alert, it did work wonderfully!
I gathered a variety of shredded and grated cheeses while I heated the the thickened sauce. Once the sauce was just about to boil, I added some heave cream and blended it in with the whisk. As it approached boiling, I removed it from the heat and gradually added the cheeses until the sauce was smooth and thickened.
When I did the assembly, I opted for a loaf pan to share with coworkers and a pie plate to eat at home. Because I had some beautiful Compari tomatoes kinking around, I deviated from the Bianca a bit and garnished the top of our plate with tomato slices. I spread sauce on the bottom of both pans and then layered eggplant, shredded mozzarella, cheese sauce until each pan was full. I sprinkled some extra shredded cheese on top, and just to be safe baked them o a cookie sheet which much easier to clean that oven the oven floor and racks.
THE RECIPE:
Sauce
1 medium shallot or small onion minced
3 cloves of garlic minced
1T each of dried basil and oregano
Salt and pepper to taste
2-3T olive oil
4T butter
3C cheese broth (I'm guessing vegetable broth or just milk will work if you haven't made cheese broth)
1/2 C each of flour and corn starch
1 - 1-1/2 C heavy cream
3C assorted cheese (I used 2 parts Reggiano Parmesan and 1 part Asiago)
For the Eggplant
Eggplant peeled and cut into 1/4" thick slices, rounds, or sticks (this batch was I'm guessing 2-3 pounds)
Equal volume of beaten eggs and mayonnaise (I used 3 eggs for this batch and it was just barely enough)
2 C bread crumbs (seasoned or not)
3/4 C flour
If unseasoned crumbs add 1T basil. 1T oregano, 1t garlic powder, 1t salt, and 1t black pepper to the crumb / flour mixture
Olive oil
Olive oil cooking spray
For Final Assembly / Bake
Finished cheese sauce
'Oven-fried' eggplant
2-3 C shredded mozzarella
Sauce Part I
Heat butter and olive oil in a pan
Add minced garlic, onion, dried basil and oregano and saute until Aromatic and the onion is translucent
Reduce heat and whisk in the flour and cornstarch stirring and adjusting heat until the roux thickens to a golden brown color
Reduce heat and add broth or milk and stir until melted (if frozen) and well combined.
Give it a taste and add some salt and pepper as you see fit.
Remove from heat.
Eggplant Part I
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees
Line a rimmed cookie sheet and coat with olive oil
Combine beaten eggs and mayo in a large bowl and add the eggplant
Stir to coat all the eggplant with the egg / mayo mixture
In another bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, seasonings (if using) and flour
With a fork, tongs, or your fingers, dredge one piece of eggplant at a time and place it on the cookie sheet.
When the sheet is full with a single layer ,generously spray the eggplant with the olive oil, and it's time to bake.
Bake in the 400 degree oven for 15 minutes
Remove the pan and carefully turn each piece over and bake for another 15 minutes
Remove and set o cool.
Reduce oven temp to 350 degrees.
Sauce Part II
Bring the sauce back to an almost boil and add 1 cup of the cream and whisk to combine completely
On low heat, allow the mixture to just come to a boil before removing it from the stove
Gradually with a whisk and spoon add in the 3 cups of assorted shredded or grated cheese.
If the mixture gets too thick, use the remaining cream to thin and smooth it out.
If you need to return it to heat, keep it super low so the cheese doesn't break down into globs.
Assembly and Second bake
Spread a coating of the cheese sauce over the bottom of your baking pan(s)
Add a single layer of eggplant slices
Alternately layer shredded mozzarella, cheese sauce, and eggplant with a final topping of sauce and shredded cheeses until the pan(s) are topped off
Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes.
Thought for Food:
I couldn't help myself where the tomato slices were concerned. It is delicious both ways, but now my mind is in a margarita mode and thinking about a topping of fresh mozzarella, basil and tomato slices. Next time I guess.......
