We just had the santa's not real conversation at the park. Oscar the wee cherub who was passing around this little gem of information is five but has older siblings who have clued him up to all the facts. He also said his babysitter confirmed it.
I laughed it off, possibly a little bit too hysterically thinking in my head it's too early for this, surely ? As far as I can tell my boys just think Oscar is an idiot and they still believe. That suits me, I want them to have as much magic for as long as possible in their little lives.
This year we are getting two other very important guests come christmas time, their names are nanna and grandad. I haven't been this excited about christmas for years. Menu planning has begun !! Oh and by the way the eggplant parmigiana is really good, its all bubbly and cheesy, what's not to like.
...the bake
4 medium sized eggplants, cut into 1.5cm round
1/2 cup plain flour
2/3 cup olive oil
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
700ml passata
1 cup chedder cheese, grated
1 cup parmesan, grated
bunch of basil
Toss eggplant with 1 tbsp of salt and stand for 30 minutes. Rinse and dry with paper towels.
Preheat oven to 200. Dip one quarter of the eggplant pieces in flour and shake off excess. Heat 2 tbs oil in a frying pan over medium heat and cook eggplant for 3 minutes each side or until golden. Drain on paper towel. Repeat with remaining eggplant, flour and oil.
Panfry the sliced onion and garlic in the pan till softened then add it to the passata along with a pinch of sugar and some s+p.
Pop a third of the eggplant in the base of your baking dish. Top with a third of the passata, half the basil, and one third of the combined cheeses. Add half the remaining eggplant, half the remaining passata, remaining basil and half the remaining cheese. Finish with remaining eggplant, passata and cheese.
Bake for 45 minutes or until golden and bubbly. Scatter with extra basil leaves just before serving to make it look pretty and make sure you have it with crusty bread and a green salad.
2/3 cup olive oil
1 onion, sliced
2 cloves garlic, chopped
700ml passata
1 cup chedder cheese, grated
1 cup parmesan, grated
bunch of basil
Toss eggplant with 1 tbsp of salt and stand for 30 minutes. Rinse and dry with paper towels.
Preheat oven to 200. Dip one quarter of the eggplant pieces in flour and shake off excess. Heat 2 tbs oil in a frying pan over medium heat and cook eggplant for 3 minutes each side or until golden. Drain on paper towel. Repeat with remaining eggplant, flour and oil.
Panfry the sliced onion and garlic in the pan till softened then add it to the passata along with a pinch of sugar and some s+p.
Pop a third of the eggplant in the base of your baking dish. Top with a third of the passata, half the basil, and one third of the combined cheeses. Add half the remaining eggplant, half the remaining passata, remaining basil and half the remaining cheese. Finish with remaining eggplant, passata and cheese.
Bake for 45 minutes or until golden and bubbly. Scatter with extra basil leaves just before serving to make it look pretty and make sure you have it with crusty bread and a green salad.
what! Santa's not real...no one told me! Oscar's got a lot to answer for! As for the parmigiana...looks the bomb...we haven't made one for years...we do the karen martini with marscapone cheese...seriously it's a heart attack waiting to happen, but like you said, the bubbley gooey goodness just sucks me right in!
ReplyDeleteps - great news you have your fam coming for chrissy!
I hear eggplant parmigiana is also good for bringing on labour.. surely got to be one of the nicest things to try anyway : P
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