L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2017 www.italoamericano.org 34 L'Italo-Americano LA BUONA TAVOLA RECIPES COOKING TIPS SEASONAL DISHES N o other topic, not even religion or politics, pro- vokes such enthusiastic discussion in my mother's family like melanzane ripiene, or stuffed eggplants, and "come le faceva la mamma," how mamma used to make them. With nine children in her family, you can just imagine the sound level these debates can reach! I get it now that I'm grown and cook for my own family. There are times I think I'm making something just like my mom would, but somehow it just doesn't taste the same. Then you ask a sibling and you realize your memories vary slightly as to how mamma makes it. Enter Nonna's Way! My nonna's stuffed egg- plants, or melanzane ripiene, are hard to replicate, but I've got to take my mom's side on this fami- ly feud and say hers are the clos- est! So here we are again with Nonna Pina and her recipe for stuffed eggplants. One of the last things we pick at the farm in the late summer are baby black eggplants. We wait as long as possible, since taking the baby eggplant means less fully mature eggplants for the farmer to sell. To preserve them for the winter months, we wash them and cut off the end with the stem. Then you cut them in half length- wise and score around the edges. If you skip this step, you won't be able to take the pulp out after they are blanched. Place the cut eggplants into boiling water and remove when the pulp is tender, approximately 4 minutes. Let them cool and with your fingers or a spoon remove the pulp from each half eggplant. Use food safe bags to freeze the desired number of eggplant halves and their pulp together. If you don't have access to baby eggplants, you can substi- tute them in this recipe for two large eggplants and make egg- plant braciole. To do this, wash the eggplants and cut in half. Place in boiling water until soft and let cool, then chop them up and add to mixture as per recipe. Instead of stuffing eggplant halves you just take a small amount of the mixture in your hand and form little oval patties. The recipe calls for a handful of fresh basil, the more the bet- ter! It's also important not to use dry bread crumbs or your mix- ture will be too dense and dry. My nonna would use any old bread she had in the house, break it up and soak it with a bit of water first. The consensus is that she only did that to use up old bread, so don't feel the need to run out and buy fresh bread for this. Nonna Pina puts her Italian bread or buns in the processor a bit and squeezes the juice from the eggplant halves into the mix- ture so the bread soaks it all up. Always fry meat side down first and only flip once. The egg- plant side only takes a few min- utes once the meat is cooked through. Let sit on a paper towel briefly to get rid of any excess oil and enjoy while hot! Stuffed Eggplant, Melanzane Ripiene Ingredients • 1 pound ground beef • 1 pound ground pork • A generous handful fresh chopped basil • 3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese • 4 eggs • 4 cups fresh breadcrumbs from Italian bread • 18 little black eggplants, no bigger than the palm of your hand • Chopped eggplant pulp from 18 baby eggplants and the juice • squeezed from 36 eggplant halves • 1 tablespoon salt • oil for frying Instructions 1. Bring a medium to large pot of water to a boil 2.Wash eggplant, cut off stems and cut lengthwise in half 3. Slice all the way around into the eggplants roughly 1/4 inch from the skin and 1/4 inch deep 4. Place into boiling water and remove when pulp is tender, about 4 minutes 5. Once cool enough to work with, using two fingers or a spoon, dig out the pulp of the eggplants, chop it up and set aside in a bowl 6. In a large bowl mix all ingredients including the chopped eggplant pulp together but leave the eggplant halves aside. 7. Squeeze the juice out of the eggplant halves into the mixture. 8. Fill eggplant shells with meat mixture and fry on medium heat in a pan with 1/4 to 1/2 inch oil, meat side down first, until cooked through. Flip and fry egg- plant side for a few minutes. Place on paper towel briefly to soak up any excess oil and serve. Notes Be sure to use freshly ground bread not dry bread crumbs. If you don't have baby egg- plants, you can substitute two large eggplants and make egg- plant braciole. Wash the egg- plants, cut off the stems and place in boiling water until tender. Then chop them up and add to the rest of the mixture. Stuffed eggplant is best made with bab eggplants, but you can also use larger one and prepare "eggplant braciole". Photo: Nonna's Way The eggplants are first boiled, then emptied of their flesh, which is then mixed with the other ingredients to prepare the stuffing. Photo: Nonna's Way ANNA ROMANO & ANGELA DESALVO Melanzane ripiene, stuffed eggplants

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