Eggplant Mozzarella Parmesan

Got the recipe from this site. 

Ingredients:

• About 1.2 kilos tomatoes
• About 1.5 kilos of eggplants
• 400 grams Mozzarella
• 8-10 tablespoons of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
• 2 garlic cloves
• About ½ cup chopped onions
• Some basil sprigs
• About ¾ to 1 cup of olive oil (this includes oil for frying)
• Salt and pepper to taste.

How to make: 

- Slice eggplants lengthwise (about 4-5 mm thickness). Eggplants should not be sliced too thin to prevent them from burning while frying. On the contrary, if eggplants are cut too thick, they will absorb too much oil.

- Toss eggplants with salt and place them in a colander. The secret to a liquid free recipe is draining enough water from eggplants. Some recipes suggest to let eggplants drain for about 1 hour. I let them drain overnight.

- According to Neapolitan tradition, eggplants should only be fried in olive oil, long enough to acquire an intense golden brown color. Fry 4 to 5 slices at a time. In other Italian regions, eggplants are previously dipped in egg batter or/and flour before frying.

- Once fried, eggplants are transferred to a plate and covered with paper towels to drain excess oil. Make sure to eliminate excess oil: there is nothing worse than a Parmigiana drowned in oil.

- To prepare the sauce, the most recommended type of tomatoes are fresh, ripe San Marzano or Piccadilly. Many Italian cooks consider these kind of “plum” tomatoes to be the best sauce tomatoes.

In a pot, boil water and add tomatoes, and blanche for about 1 – 2 minutes, the necessary time to soften them. The more time you boil tomatoes in water, the more water they absorb.

- Once blanched, tomatoes are passed through a hand-held vegetable mill.

- This useful tool besides from speeding up the process by easily removing skin and seeds (which determines acidity in tomato sauce) from tomatoes, it produces a sweeter and better quality of sauce

- In a saucepan, add 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil, and sliced garlic. Add chopped onions and sauté for about 30 seconds. Add sauce and simmer for about 1 hour or until sauce is thickened.

- Add some basil leaves and salt and pepper to taste.

- Arrange eggplant slices in the bottom of a baking dish, overlapping slightly if necessary. Spread over tomato sauce. Cover with Parmigiano Reggiano. Continue layering with remaining eggplant, sauce, Mozzarella, Parmigiano Reggiano, and basil. Bake at 200° C uncovered, until cheese is melted and golden, about 30-40 minutes.

- As for the purple sweet potato, I just roasted it with olive oil and herbs (rosemary, oregano.