Breaded Eggplant with Basil and Lemon

EGGPLANT is a Sicilian staple. It plays a large role in the kitchen and has a wide variety of uses. It can be baked, roasted, fried, cooked in myriad combinations with other vegetables (caponatina reigns supreme where this is concerned) and of course can be used in pasta dishes as well. For our purposes, however, and because it is summer when the eggplants are in lush profusion, nothing is so appealing as eggplant that is breaded and gently fried in olive oil and then layered with lemon juice and basil. It is a dish that screams summer and one that is often served at room temperature. My grandmother and my mother made this often and sometimes mixed this with the home-grown guguzza (gigantic zucchini bigger than a baseball bat) on the same plate. Delicious!

Eggplant with Basil and Lemon

1 or 2 eggplants sliced (not too thinly) and salted to sweat

Flour to dredge

3 eggs

2 tbs. extra virgin olive oil

Juice from 2 lemons

Chopped basil (or chiffonade)

Breadcrumbs mixed with several tablespoons of Romano cheese

High quality extra virgin olive oil
Juice from one or two lemons
Basil leaves

Slice the eggplant and place on a large baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Freely sprinkle Kosher salt over all the slices and allow to sweat for about 45 minutes. After about 20-24 minutes, You can turn them and sweat the other side if you like. 

Mix the eggs with the lemon juice, the olive oil and the basil.

Mix the breadcrumbs with the cheese (you'll need at least 4 cups of breadcrumb mixture.

Set up an assembly line starting with a plate with the egg plant, flour, egg mixture, bread crumbs and another plate for the breaded eggplant.  Dredge each slice and then dip in the egg and then bread the slices and place on the clean plate in a circular pattern (as in the photograph above). Squeeze lemon juice over the top of the eggplant and let rest for about 15 minutes.

Heat a large, deep frying pan and pour in enough olive oil to cover the bottom in a generous layer. When the oil ripples and is just on the brink of smoking, place the eggplant slices in the pan. Gently saute until each side is a crisp and golden brown. Layer the eggplant on a platter and continue to fry all the eggplant until you are done. Drizzle more lemon juice on the top of the eggplant, insert basil leaves and lemon wedges around the platter. 

Serve immediately or at room temperature with other antipasti.

Buon appetition!

TONNO E PATATE CON AIOLI

I WOULD HAVE WRITTEN THIS on my flight to Sacramento last night but was forced to refrain thanks to the child-centric parents who kept getting up and down (I had the aisle seat) with their screaming 18 month old son.

Anyway, summer is the time to cook without heat. Here in New York, when the mercury tops 75º and the humidity is scorching, the last thing you really want to do is cook over a hot stove; forget about the oven. There are many ways to get around this and one of them is tuna with boiled potatoes, some thick, rich Aioli and a loaf of crusty bread. It makes the perfect lunch or a fabulous antipasto before something grilled or roasted in the wee hours of the night when the sun is down. It is perfect for the beach!

TONNO SOTT'OGLIO COLLE PATATE E AIOLI

1 recipe Tonno Sott'Oglio (see blog entry dated, January 12, 2014)

6 new potatoes (quartered, but left unpeeled)

1 recipe Aioli (see below)

1 baguette

Tonno Sott'Oglio

1 cup tuna (left to drain the oil in a small sieve)

Boil the potatoes in lightly salted water for about 15 minutes or until pierced easily with a knife

Aioli

2 tbs. dry mustard

At least 6 cloves of garlic

Dash of sea salt

2 anchovy filets

3 egg yolks

1 tsp. lemon juice

1/2 tsp. water

1/2 tsp. vinegar

1 cup olive oil*

1 small packet saffron powder

Smash the garlic with a large chef's knife or cleaver. Mix well with the salt and anchovies and work into a paste (either in a mortar and pestle or a food processor or blender)

Heat the canister of a blender with hot water. Drain and add the egg yolks, dry mustard, lemon juice, water and vinegar and blend until very well mixed. Start adding the olive oil a little bit at a time in a very thin stream. You don't want to saturate the egg yolks too quickly with the oil or the sauce will separate. You want to end up with a very thick mayonnaise. When this is achieved, add the garlic and the saffron. For a deeper flavor, I add a dash of Worcestershire Sauce, Tabasco,  Nutmeg and Paprika.

Put into a bowl or container and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Arrange the tuna and potatoes around the bowl of Aioli on a platter and serve with a good loaf of bread.

Buon appetito!

* You don't have to use 100% olive oil. You can mix the oils if you like (Canola, Avocado, Peanut, Corn, whichever you prefer), but I would still make sure that half of the oil was olive oil.

PASTA CON POLPO

I KNOW, I KNOW! INDEED, PAOLO DOES KNOW, that it's been a very long while since I've written anything but please, I've been just a tad busy with other professional duties like learning a rather large chunk of Rachmaninoff and all the Chopin Nocturnes. Please forgive me for my neglect. I can only apologize now for repeated offenses in the future as life over the next few months is going to get very harried for me.

As we are now deep in summer, it's fitting that I should write about two elements of the season's fare: seafood and the tomato (n.b., August approaches with its abundance of juicy, sweet, peach-dripping tomatoes!).

SPAGHETTINI CON POLPO

In any event, when I was a little boy, my grandmother made this dish all the time. However, my interest in octopus had nothing to do with touching it much less putting it in my mouth. Octopus and the dreaded canned peas were my nemeses. She did, however, impart the ways of making this dish to some of the "in-laws" who were the German, Polish and Irish wives of cousins, nephews and grandsons. Indeed, everyone marveled at how well these "midigane" (Sicilian for American) could cook pure and simple Sicilian fare. One of them became a fabulous cook in her own right and truly excelled at this dish after working her way up from how to boil water and up ("WHAT? You married a girl who cannot cook? Impossibile!!) under the ever-watchful eye of my Nonna Cefalú! It only takes curiosity and imagination and miracles in the kitchen can and do happen!

You will remember (or not) that I wrote about breadcrumbs (a Sicilian staple) many months ago (April 15, 2013). Remember-ing the cardinal rule of no cheese with fish or seafood,  bread crumbs (preferably toasted) form the essential finishing touch to this dish.

For a complete recipe on how to make octopus for this dish, refer to my blog entry entitled, "Octopus Salad" dated, January 27, 2014. This recipe can be made with large or baby octopus, but be forewarned, one fully grown octopus can weigh at least 2-3 pounds. For this dish, I allow a pound of octopus for two people as a main course or four as a first course. Either way, you don't want to serve more than 100 grams of pasta per pasta. 

Serves 4.

For the sauce:

1 lb. cooked octopus cut into small pieces if using a large octopus or heads removed from bodies of baby octopus.

Olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
4 cloves of garlic smashed
4 or 5 anchovy filets
1/8 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 cup white wine
Freshly chopped thyme and parsley
1 lg. can peeled tomatoes (preferably San Marzano) or 
3-4 cups freshly made passato di pomodoro (April 7, 2013)
Salt and pepper to taste
1 large handful of fresh basil cut into chiffonade to be put into the sauce at the end before serving.

Cover the entire surface of a heavy bottomed pan with olive oil. Heat until almost smoking. Add the onion, garlic and hot pepper flakes. Saute over medium heat until the onions become translucent. Add the anchovies, the octopus and the white wine. Bring the liquid to the boil and reduce heat to a simmer and allow to cook and reduce to 1/4 cup of liquid. Add the tomatoes and bring to the boil again and reduce heat to a simmer and allow to cook for about 20 minutes. Taste for seasoning and add salt if necessary. Add the basil. The sauce should be thick and rich with body and texture.

1 lb. pasta of your choice (long thin pastas like spaghetti, linguini or even the much finer cappellini are best).

Meanwhile, fill a large stock pot with water, cover and place over moderately hight heat. Bring the water to the boil, add a handful of Kosher salt and the pasta.  Cover the pot again to rapidly bring the water back to the boil. Uncover and cook, stirring often until al dente. Before draining the pasta, add a ladleful of pasta cooking water to the tomato sauce and stir into the sauce. Invert the entire amount of drained pasta into the sauce and toss with any leftover chopped parsley and basil.

Serve in large soup bowls and sprinkle some toasted breadcrumbs on top. 

Buon appetito!