aubergine parmigiana

l dont think alot of people realize that you can now buy vegitarian parmesan cheese point put across lol

This was excellent! I used up left over ragu sauce, thinned with regular tomato sauce, so mine was very rich. The oregano in th breadcrumbs is inspired.

This dish is so simple yet soo AMAZING! Yummmm!

Anyway*, this dish is amazing!! I hate to say it (already seem to have a lot to SHOUT about) but the best I have personally tasted was in New York (haven't had the pleasure of visiting Italy yet) in Italian-American places. Absolutely Incredible. You can also get it in baguettes/sandwiches to take away.<br /> They fry the aubergine/eggplant in batter and use mozzarella too. Their sauces are amazing. Sometimes I miss it so much I cry. <br /> Mamma mia!!!<br /> <br /> *The name Parmesan, like Champagne is protected and must be produced a certain way. Parmesan is not vegetarian but you have the option to find an alternative like the Italian Hard Cheese (clue in the name?!) suggested earlier by Holly (post#24), like 'Sparkling Wine' respectively. <br /> There are vegetarian and non-vegetarian cheeses. All you have to do in England is look at the packet, ie 'Suitable for Vegetarians' or a green colored 'V'. They often go further by advising 'made using calf rennet' on non-vegetarian cheeses. This is because vegetarians eat a lot of cheese and their custom is valued.<br /> Chefs typically don't like and dismiss vegetarians and this is an example of that oversight by Jamie. I found this recipe by googling 'vegetarian recipes'!<br /> Jon M (post #40). she would have been ten times more impressed if you had used vegetarian cheese. You should also respect other people's choices, especially if they don't harm you.

I cant believe some people can appear so thick!!. <br /> Yes there are a lot of Cheeses suitable for vegetarians including hard cheeses. However animal rennet is still widely used in Parmesan and pecorino. any self respecting vegetarian should know this and anyone cooking for one should respect their choice and source products accordingly, to assume all cheese is vegetarian because it has no meat in it is ridiculous. It is like saying a meat free soup is vegetarian even if it is made with chicken stock. <br /> Nowadays it is far easier to source products suitable for veggies with more labelling.<br /> Personally I will be trying this recipe using Vegan 'cheeses' which is the only way to ensure it is cruelty free.

@Kristen, rennet is no longer commonly used in cheesemaking due to the problems posed to vegetarians, many plant-sourced enzimes are used in its place

Recipe sounds great! All you smart people that feel good unless your bashing someone should be smart enough to leave the parmesan out if your vegetarian! Get a life.<br />

@Tom: Parmesan is not vegetarian since it contains rennet. A "true" vegetarian wouldn't eat it. Get your facts straight before you try to make everyone sound stupid.

Ok, I guess there are a lot of people who dont seem to know what Vegetarian are...!<br /> There is a main difference between Vegetarian and VEGANS:<br /> <br /> Vegetarian: Dont eat Meat, usually No Fish included (depending on people)<br /> Vegans: don't eat ANYTHING to do with Animals ( So no Meat, fisch, egs, CHEESE, Milk etc)<br /> <br /> And I must admit, this is a awsome VEGETARIAN receipe! 5*

I just cooked my first one today and I feel very proud of myself!! I must be your biggest mexican fan now!! And by the way I peeled tomatoes just placing them in the electric oven for a few minutes, this could be easier for somebody else too.

Parmesan is not technically vegetarian but many people who call themselves vego still eat it and other cheeses. I personally applaud those people who actually spend the effort to make sure that cruelty is minimized by their diet.

Think Jamie has a strange take on vegetarianism. Parmesan cheese is so not vegetarian. So why put it in a vegetarian recipe???

Parmigiana di melanzane<br /> The aubergines need to be sprinkled with salt until they lose their water, rinse and pat dry. Then fry them.<br /> In the tomato sauce use only garlic, fresh basil and a pinch of bicarbonate of soda (this make the sauce sweet). Do not use origano or onion.<br /> Get yourself an earthenware type dish (25 x 12–15cm). Put in a small layer of tomato sauce, then a thin scattering of Parmesan and chopped fresh basil, followed by a single layer of aubergines. Repeat these layers until you’ve used all the ingredients up, finishing with a little sauce and another good sprinkling of Parmesan and fresh chopped basil. Cook in the owen 180C for 30 minutes. It is nice to eat warm or cold.<br /> Buon appetito<br /> <br />

tut-tut I am a little disappointed that such a well respected well-ranked site would list this dish as Northern... it is most DEFINITELY Southern, with the roots hotly disputed between the neighboring regions of Puglia and Campania...

Hi, just one thing. This recipe is from the South of Italy, not from the north. Also the original recipe is with fried or battered and fried aubergine (it changes according to the town).<br /> Ciao ciao,<br /> Annamaria<br /> <br />

Whats all the fuss if parmesan is vegetarian or not just be grateful people that Jamie is sharing his recipe for free thanks Jamie... I have a little baby to look after and your recipes are not time consuming leaves me time to look after the little man thank u

Try Lord of the Hundreds as a sub for parmesan or pecorino. It's a vegetarian sheep cheese

@jaygatsby: sorry but did you not read the eariler postings?? "cheese is vegetarian"...well thanks for that oh wise one - and I'm sure you know as a practicing veggie don't you..jeez, please get your facts straight. Parmesan for one is most definitely not veggie.

Made this today and it was delish, didnt go with the optional mozzarella, the parmesan and breadcrumbs were enough. I halved the ingredients and made it a main course for 1. Wish i had made more. Btw cheese is vegetarian, it should only be the vegans that have a problem :p<br />

Parmesan is made from 'animal rennet' which comes from an enzyme produced in a mammalian stomach that helps digests the mother's milk. In order to get this enzyme they have to slaughter the calve or any other young mammal. If you are a vegetarian because you do not condone the slaughtering of animals then you should probably use some alternative. I am not trying to preach, it is a personal choice...just make sure you make informed choices. OH and if you know of a great alternative please do tell because I've been searching for one for quite some time. Thanks!

Dear people. I hope you understand the difference between "vegetarian" and "vegan" food. A dish can be called "vegetarian" when there's no meat included. Therefore there can be cheese, eggs or other animal products in it. But when there's absolutely no animal products like cheese or honey used in the dish, it's vegan. So this particular recipe is suitable for vegetarians, but not vegans. Parmesan can be replaced with vegan friendly product if wanted. It can be found in many stores that sell organic and vegan products. So please, dear people, don't make a fuss about this.

For Christy - aubergines are eggplants!

I made this receipe last week, it was awesome

I´ve learned this recipe in a bit different way, which is emerging the aubergine in flour then frying them. But this is perfect as well.

Guys, he doesn't even say this is a vegetarian recipe! He says it's a *vegetable* lasagne, which it definitely is.

Hi Jamie I tried out this recipe but i didnt have any aubergines so I used more cheese and carrots as a substitute. This was not very good, I am not sure if it was because I did not add aubergines but whatever it was this recipe sucks. Oh and parmesan isnt vegetarian it has meat in it so there.

look! so delicius!! i'm gonna try this! ^^

Sainsbury's sell an "Italian hard cheese" (I suppose the name 'Parmesan cannot be used, legally) which is a great Parmesan substitute for vegetarians. It's from their "Basics" range and is in a wedge shape with white and orange packaging, you find it alongside the real Parmesan.

very enjoyable recipe. thanks Jaime.

Again, unless you are looking at a vegan/vegetarian cookbook or website, I have found that most chefs use the term vegetarian loosely to identify the dish is not based around meat. Why be so sensitive? There are so many different types of vegetarians...

Why is this listed in the vegetarian section??? PARMESAN IS NOT VEGETARIAN!!! By legal necessity it contains calf rennet - a collection of enzymes from the stomach linings of slaughtered 4-5 week old calves. It really angers me how some chefs and authors of recipe books are either intentionally or non-intentionally ignorant of this fact, and I'm not even a vegetarian! In my opinion, if you are going to market something towards a group of people (e.g. vegies) then you should either make sure get your facts right or don't bother at all!

Eeeerrr Jamie,<br /> I love your shows & your cuisine but... parmigiana totally comes from Southern Italy (Sicily & Calabria) even though is much popular in the whole country!! Anyway, whatever.. I guess your parmigiana is killer!!

Thanks Jamie for a very good recipe, just thought I'd leave a link that does not exactly resolve the North/South dispute...<br /> http://www.cliffordawright.com/caw/food/entries/display.php/topic_id/4/id/109/<br /> <br /> COOK-IN ALTO-ADIGE

Hi!<br /> I watched one of the TV-programs from "Jamie does...". I think it was from the one from Andalucia, but I'm not sure. There Jamie made a rough salad with chorizo. It looked wonderful. I didn't write down the recipe, and I can't find it anywhere. Can somebody please help me with that?

You can get hard italian cheeses similar to parmesan which are veggie i.e. don't use animal rennet in health food shops and the better supermarkets. Not all veggies are bothered about rennet but I am so I get the veggie cheese. Very nice it is too! I like to spice up the sauce with a bit of chili at times to which is really tasty.

Fab recipe. Tried it tonight for the first time salting the aubergines first - but I think the key here is to not slice the aubergine too thin. The whole salt/rince/dry process does a number on the aubergine slices and if they're too thinly sliced they're a bit beat up by the time they're done being griddled.<br /> Intrigued by the idea of battering the aubergine first, but wonder what that does to the calorie content. But then again, at this point, who cares?!

Paul is absolutely correct. Many cheeses are made with animal rennet, inclusing parmesan, so are not vegetarian. I usually just use a different vegetarian cheese.

@Paul: it is vegetarian Paul, but it 's not vegan, most vegetarians like their cheese.

As far as I'm aware Parmisan is not vegetarian! So your recipe is not vegetarian!

North, South, East or West! I love aubergines and this recipe was fantastic, and I urge anyone to try it. Jamie - fantastic, by far one of your finest recipes for hitting the 'spot' just when you need it! Thank you! & Lou Lou!! You hit the nail right on the head! Good on you!

God you people will moan about anything!!!<br /> <br /> This recipe is yummy, if you don't like it, don't make it!! No need to incessantly moan about it, I mean who literally states Trade Descriptions Acts, get a life!!!<br /> <br /> Well done Jamie, It was delicious!!!

I'm sorry to inform you that "Parmigiana" is a tipical dish of southern Italy... It was born in Sicily...

Most food labeling is so much better nowadays and there are hundreds of vegetarian cheeses available if you don't want one with calf rennet. 'Proper' vegetarian parmesan cheese (albeit with a terrible name!) using veggie rennet:<br /> http://bookhams.com/vmchk/welcome-to-bookhams-online-shop/43-njpc-not-just-a-pasta-cheese.html<br /> It is great. i order big blocks of it online.

I think you are being very fussy here, if you do not eat Parmesan as a choice then simply don't add it. It is a vegetarian recipe and if you don't think it is then fine but you really don't need to write an essay on here about your specific dietary requirements and tales of your fussy antics in restaurants. Dear oh dear. Anyway, I am making the recipe tonight for my vegetarian girlfriend and myself and hoping it is as nice as most people are saying (yes I will be including Parmesan and Mozzarella, shock horror!)

Ziggymac and Kim are correct. There are many vegetarian cheeses, but Parmesan is not one of them. It is made using calf rennet, which is an enzyme extracted from the stomachs of slaughered calves. It can never be vegetarian because it has to be produced in a particular way under European Union Regulation. If you order a meal marked on a menu as being vegetarian and it arrives with Parmesan on it, you are entitled to send it back and not pay for it, since the restauranteur is committing a criminal offense under the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 and an EU Directive.

soy de nicaragua y me encanta con la rapides que cocinas,y a la ves te felicito por tu programa y veremos cuando vienes aca.adios.

This dish is fab if you know how to make it the old way like mamma used to make REALLY fry the aubergine it makes a difference us Napoli ladies love this recipe too, Try and be a bit more old school jamie, think about how the older generations would have cooked it and you will always have out of this world recipies.
Italian food is the greatest!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I've made the Jamie version several times and we've enjoyed it every time. Tonight I tried the Carlo version (Sept 09 comment) and we really enjoyed it! Took a little longer but well worth the effort. I've just realized I forgot the breadcrumbs, it obviously didn't do any harm. I think resting it at the end also helped, I shall try and allow a little extra time for resting in future - even though it was really hard not diving in as soon as it came out of the oven! Thanks Jamie and Carlo!

Kim and Ziggymac, you are both writing about VEGAN and not VEGETARIAN when you say that there are no "vegetarian cheeses"...Vegetarians eat dairy, eggs and cheese. Vegans eat none of these and vegan "cheeses" are fabricated from something other than dairy.

Great recipe, just brilliant.
I always use modena vinegar instead of wine vinegar for tomato sauces, just love the flavor. But it's a matter of personal preferences I suppose :)

Made a slightly different version of this tonight. Salted, rinsed and dried the aubergine slices first, then floured them, dipped them in seasoned, beaten eggs, and shallow fried them... quite a traditional method.

Used extra mozzarella between the layers, as well as Parmegiano Reggiano. No breadcrumbs for me, but I might try this variation next time.

Not sure why some people are adding courgettes, peppers, pine nuts, etc. Less is more, people! Why mess with perfection?

Dear J.O.My name is Carlo and I come from Italy.You are a good chef,but I m sorry to tell you that you know just a little about this dish. Parmigiana thosen t come from North of Italy but from the southern city of Napoli(Naples).
About preparation..
Put the aubergine sliced and blanche it under salt to make them expell the vegetative water.After half hour dry them and put them a part.Blond the finely chopped mirepoix in olive oil and add chopped tomato in case you don t have a tomato passata like mamma used to make it.. Put some salt and origano..
The sauce thosen t have to be sweete!But if slightly acidic put just a tee spoon of shugar in it and stair it!Don t need to coock it alot becaus will finish to coock in the oven anyway.
Prepare a part a plate with flauar and a bowl with wisked eggs,salt,pepper and parmesan.
Once sliced the obergine as you said of 1 cm lenght put them in the flower and then in the eggs and so in a fry pan with a bit of vegetable oil,as you wouldn t waste olive oil for fry.
Put some paper in a plate and dry the aubergine while you are putting them on the plate just after golden.Once finally finished to fry,put the first lair of tomato sauce in the pot that will go in the oven.After the tomato put the aubergine with on top another lair of sauce,mozzarella,and a lair of parmesan..and keep going untill reach the top..aubegine,tomato,mozzarella and parmesan...30 minuts 180C and then leave 30 minuts drying in the oven. It's gforgeous...my english is not that good but in the kitchen...mhmhmhmhmh we all have it in the blod!!! Enjoy the real PARMIGIANA DI MELANZANE!

delicious. thanks.
i'm not so sure whether Mr J. Oliver would approve, but i couldn't help but add roasted pine kernels/nuts, grilled sweet red peppers and courgettes.
The mozarella and bread crumbs (in touch of olive oil) were perfect to add. come out lovely and crispy.

Hi

Me and my friend tried this before a night out and was pleasantly surprised. Im becoming more adventorous wth the cooking so was excited to try this. Had no white white and just used aubergines. It was divine. I had some left over to have for another day and it tasted as good. Cant wait to try something new again. Also if anyone has any nice salad dressing ideas Id LOVE TO HEAR THEM. Trying new recipes all the time. Thanks again to jamies ministyr of food for getting me cooking

Hi Jamie,
Tried this recipe out this weekend and it was absolutely amazing! I was making it for the first time so i stuck to the recipe, but will try to play around a bit with the ingredients next time round.
Thanks for sharing it with us :-)

I just adore this recipe! I always roast the aubergine slices with a little oil, much less messy and you can do it in a oner. Also, try adding crumbled ricotta to each layer and the more time you leave it in the oven the better!

I agree with Kim, parmesan is not a vegetarian cheese. You can get look-a-likes that are but no mention is made of this here. The recipe is declared "vegetarian" which could lead to a situation where someone has to refuse to eat a meal especially made for them.
Restaurants do this all the time, one "chef" told me that "all cheese is vegetarian" and seemed angry when I disagreed with him.

Is it possible to get vegetarian buffalo mozarello? Or vegetarian Parmesan? I can find a vegetarian parmesan substitute but only cow's milk mozarello marked vegetarian. I am tired of going to restaurants to find the cheese in their vegetarian dishes isn't vegetarian.

This is my husband's favorite dish and he absolutely loves this version! I really like the fact that the aubergines don't have to be fried in oil first. I always add lots of mozzerella over the top before sprinkling with the breadcrumbs - delicious!

fantastic recipe! I've just made it, though with the aubergines fried in egg, flour and milk, and instead of using white vinegar (because I don't have this), I've used a tbsp of balsamico vinegar , and the sauce had an amazing deep taste!delicious

I love layering both courgettes and aubergines in this recipe, it's tasty tasty tasty and tastes even more fabulous with mozerella added inbetween the layers with the parmesan. Yum yum!!

I've just made this (frying the aubergine slices :-) and have thrown it into the oven (mozzarella on top). Looking forward to it as it smells wonderful.

To Ahu, if you're having trouble getting oregano, I'm pretty sure it's also known as Marjoram - perhaps you can get it by that name?

This has long been one of my favorite dishes, so quick and easy to make, and always so yummy!! Have enjoyed reading peoples' variations and ideas on the ideal recipe, so thought I'd drop my own in too. Much as I love it as it is, sometimes I add some pepperoni to the layers - gives it an extra dimension, and something for the meat eaters. Although I have to agree that you really don't miss the meat at all!! x

aubergine parmigiana it the best

One of my favy dishes. My lovely granny always cooks it for me when I visit her... since I was little.

so is parmigiana eggplants ? anyway the recipe sounds interesting and not difficult. can we say its a modern trend of cooking ?

For Denise: Grana Padano is parmesan. In italy the most celebres parmesans are: grana padano and parmigiano reggiano. The rest sold like parmesan in the megastore is a miscellanea of many kinds of sub-quality cheese.

For the orhers, it's true, it's a classic south receips

Nice recipe mate
im cooking it for the girlfriend tonight hopefully its a hit hey.

Great recipe.

But it is a southern Italian recipe, it isn´t from the north. ;-)

loved it! used grana padano instead of parmesan, still tasted fantastic... normally my cooking isn't greatly appreciated, but my family loved this recipe... :)

I first had this dish in Rome, we were visiting the Jewish Quarter & just wandering around, came across a Trattoria, pulled up a chair & asked the waiter for a menu, I recognized aubergine parmigiana, it's gotta be aubergines & parmesan right? & yes it did have the Mozzarella on top, but the flavours!!! Wow! & I'm not a vegetarian, absolutely fantasmacorical, have to go & make it now!

This was amazing, really simple to make and turned out delicious, I salted aubergines, rested and then grilled until slightly brown and they were fine, but will try frying in future in comparison. Thanks for great recipe Jamie!!

For Christy and the other yanks out there - an aubergine is an egg plant.

just great......................

I'm a Scot transplanted to Italy and I learned to make this dish from my very Southern (Calabrian boyfriend) Italian boyfriend. It's true that frying the aubergines makes it much nicer (they really change texture when they're fried) but, as always with aubergines (and courgettes) they should also be "sweated" first. Slice them, sprinkle them with sea salt, leave them to lose their water, rinse and pat dry. THEN you can fry them! Try adding a few slices of boiled egg in your layers, another Calabrian variation.

I love it just by looking at it will try it for sure

Perfect!

made this the other night but used cheddar instead of parmagianno turned out absolutely beautiful going too try it with courgettes next week.

Love this dish. I agree that the aubergines are better fried though, I can't get them soft enough by following the recipe and grilling them.

I like to add the mozarella on top, and sometimes as a middle layer too. I do the courgette variation too. YUM.

i have made this dish using a recipe that flours and fries the aubergine and uses mozzarella in the layering process.and i can honestly say as a devout carnivour that i did not miss meat in this dish. i serve it as a main with hot ciabatta and a frissy salad with balsamic dressing.also my tip to reduce the cost is to use grana padano cheese(basically parmesan thats produced outside of parma)its grainier than parmesan but you obv cant notice this after 30 mins in an oven.

I particulary apreciate aubergines and tomatoes in the same plate and I'm sure I'm going to melt when I'll taste your recipe. I'll test it very soon

one of the best aubergine recipes ive made, but after trial and error, the aubergines must be fried to bring out the best in this salivatious dish.

Dear Jamie,

I love this food, and that's one of my favorites in your recipes!! However I'm having trouble finding oreganos here in Turkey, so is there any other thing you can suggest me to use instead?
PS. I'm a huge fan and I love your TV. show + have one of your books (cook with Jamie), and I feel like I'm a real chef:)

test

Absolutely fantastic! I'm a meat lover but this dish makes a delightful change

This is my favorite dish of all time, cannot get sick of it!!!! And favorite vegetable too!! Yummyy!!

that was very good dish.I loved and is so tasty aswell

Well... if it was sweet potato and carrot it wouldn't be Aubergine Parmigiana - would it?!?! You can't have Aubergine Parmigiana and "improve it" by subsituting the aubergines with something else.

*rolleyes*

This dish is fantasic. I originally came across it at Ciao Baby Cucina (Italian Restaurant Chain) and it's fantastic.

Great recipe Jamie; thrilled to find your version of it works so well at home.

Me and my mum made this today for dinner! i love it its so nice i think it would be nicer if it was different layers of say: sweet potatoe and carrot, but i really liked it!
xx

This recipe is amazing. I've served it with crusty bread as a main and as a side with a leg of lamb I cooked on my BBQ fitted with a rotisserie. Both times it was delicious.

OK, this is how we'd do it in Puglia (and some would say this is where parmigiana comes from in the first place): aubergines are battered (eggs+flour) and FRIED, and layers are done alternating the fried aubergines, mozzarella and mortadella (and parmesan of course), with the tomato sauce blending it all in. Very very wicked, quite filling admittedly, but it's heaven.

absolutely delicious, its a hit everytime I make it!!!

@ melanzane alla parmigiana lover
Mozzarella is mentioned as going on top of the dish

Also white or red wine vinegar??

I Love this dish i have been eating it made by my folks for years and now make it myself for my family who love it am very lucky my parents live in Italy so when they visit they bring all the fresh ingrediants over to make it even more delish. i also chop it up and add some baby pasta to it for my 7mnth old...

Hello

Please can you tell me where I can source La Fiamente (?) tinned tomatoes mentioned in Jamie's book?

kind regards, Sue

come on please the aubergines have to be fried !!! and what happened to the mozzerella?

Tried this dish and the sauce was great but my aubergines weren't tender enough :0( What did i do wrong? Was I supposed to oil the aubergines or griddle them for longer?

yummy! Made with all fresh ingredients, this caused a bit of a stir (excuse the pun) at a dinner party (darling!) the other week! rock and roll!!!

wow this was brilliant!!
great recipe jamie

this is one of my favorite dishes...and being italian this is exactly how I do it except for the breadcrumbs...love your cooking jamie...

ps. in italy this is usually a main course dish...

This is absolutely delish! Added a layer of white fish to it to make it a main course. Amazing! Thanks for the great recipes

Schinkenspeck is German. Schinken is ham, Speck is bacon. Schinkenspeck is most similar to pancetta.

This recipe is absolutely fabulous! Very tasty especially with fresh tomatoes.

This is my favourite. Haven't tried it with the breadcrumbs yet though. By the way what is Schinken Speck?

Excellent variation on a classic.
I sometimes add a little balsamic venegar to the sauce. I've also added very thin strips of Schinken Speck to the layers (50 grams will do it). Gives it a slightly smoky flavour.

an aubergine is called an eggplant in America

sorry from USA but what are aubergines?? a picture might have made me regonize it!

Receipe is simple to follow, great taste and good to have with friends.

super great receipe...
tryed it and loved it..
the finaly touch with the crumble bread!!!hmmm really amazing...people you should try this dish!!