...my Parmigiana
Parmigiana is one of the most noted dish of Neapolitan Tradition. For tradition it must be made "red",  with sauce of tomatoes (if you prepare a ragù is better), aboundant parmesan, naturally, fried eggplants and lots of basil!!!

 

It is served like a side dish but I consider it as a complete dish.

....my advices
For the cook of the eggplants you have 3 ways: fried, roasted or in the oven. You can choose your way in base of your diet. Between the 3 choice, obviously the more tasty is the fried egglplants. 
I surely suggest you to NOT use the vapour cook. 
For the eggplants I suggest to choose not very large (you can look for the most tapered, they contain less seed. It mustn't be soft, but hard and fresh of crop.

 

Ingredients for 4 people:
1 kg of eggplants

Coars salt

(possibly 1 lt of sunflower oil to fry the eggplants and 100 gr of flour)

 

Ingredients for the sauce:
750 gr of tomato sauce (preferably Italian)
30 gr of DOP Extra Virgin
1 clove garlic
4 leaves of fresh basil
Fine salt q.s.

 

To assemble:
350 gr of provola or mozzarella
100 gr of grated cheese Parmesan DOP or Grana Padano DOP 

Fresh basil

Fine salt 
Pepper

 

Preparation
Cut the eggplant into slices of a 2-3 cm thick without removing either the peel or the soul but eliminating the ends. Put them into a bowl with water and coars salt for about 30/40 minutes in way they lose their bitter taste. After 30 minutes put off the eggplants from the water and squeeze and dry them as well you can. Now you mast cook them... You have 3 ways: 
- in the oven, disposed on a backing sheet 
- roasted
- passed in the flour and fried in vegetable oil until golden brown (take care after cooking to leave them to dry on absorbent paper towel).

 

In a pan on the stove you place the olive oil and the garlic clove. When the garlic is browned remove it and add the tomato sauce (be careful that the oil will splash in contact with tomato). Season with salt and add the basil. Let it simmer for about 40 minutes with the lid and taking care to turn occasionally.

 

Assemble the Parmigiana using a Vietri ceramic roasting pan starting with putting on the bottom a thin layer of tomato. Place a layer of eggplant carefully lined up to the bottom. Cover the layer of eggplant with a light layer of tomato, parmesan a little fresh ground pepper, provola and a few basil leaves.

 

Start again with eggplant and repeats the same steps up to make 4 layers of eggplant. Close by adding the rest of the tomato, provolone, sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan, a few basil leaves and salt if necessary.
Bake in oven at 180° for 1 hour or until the surface does not form a crust.

 

Remove from the oven, leave to curdle for about 20 minutes, portioned and served.

...Then enjoy your lunch with my rich white Parmigiana if accompanied and served in the brightly colored plates of CeramicaVietrese.it definitely will be even better, but also more beautiful to behold!!!