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Rosa's Eggplant Cutlet Recipe

Rosa's Eggplant Cutlet

Recipe

 

Captured

by

The Recipe Hunters

in Italy

Juicy breaded eggplant oozing with melted cheese and prosciutto!? Melanzane Cotoletta aka Eggplant Cutlets is one of our favorite recipes, it will make your tastebuds rock! If your a vegetarian SKIP the meat and just add your favorite cheese! If you don't have prosciutto, substitute with corn beef or pastrami. 

 

Try out the eggplant cutlet aka melanzane cotoletta recipe below!!

Understanding the Recipe: You will be frying the slices of eggplant, making a "sandwich" out of the eggplant slices by stuffing them with cheese and meat, and then breading and frying the sandwiches. The only time-consuming part is prepping the eggplant, because you need to drain the juice from the sliced eggplant. We added the recipe for Rosa's homemade tomato sauce in case you wanted to drizzle the eggplant cutlets with some more love. 

Ingredients for

Rosa's Eggplant Cutlets

Eggplant Cutlets:

  • 3 Eggplants - Medium Sized 

  • 2 cups Bread Crumbs (100 g)

  • 3/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano (70 g)

  • 75 g of Pecorino Romano (3/4 cup)

  • 1/2 lb of Mozzarella (mozzarella di bufala is the best) (200 g)

  • Prosciutto

  • seasalt

 

Homemade Sauce:

  • 1/2 cup of Olive Oil (120 ml)

  • 1 red onion

  • 28 oz can of Whole Peeled Tomatoes (800 g)

  • 1/2 cup Water (120 ml)

  • Salt to taste

 

Rosa from Italy

ROSA

Recipe for Rosa's Eggplant Cutlets

Making the Homemade Sauce:

 

  • In a medium sized pot add 1 diced red onion with 1/2 cup of olive oil and heat over medium-high flame, stirring occasionally so that the onions do not burn

  • Once the onions begin to fizzle in the oil, add the 28 oz of whole peeled tomatoes, 1/2 cup of water, and a pinch of salt and stir

  • Turn the heat down to low, slightly cover the pot and allow the sauce to simmer while you prep the eggplant

Prepping the Eggplant

 

  • Remove the entire green stems of the eggplant and wash them under cold water

  • Cut the eggplants lengthwise in half, then face the eggplants white-side down and slice horizontally into 1 cm thin slices (see photo)

 Made with Love Tip: If you do not like the peel, you can remove the skin, but Rosa likes the skins added flavor

Removing the liquid from the Eggplant slices:

 

  • Layer the slices of eggplant in a large bowl. After every layer, sprinkle the eggplants with seasalt. Repeat this step until the eggplants are all sliced.

  • Once all of the eggplant slices are in the bowl, firmly press down on them with your hands, add a plate on top of them, and place a heavy plate on top of the plate.

  • Every 5 minutes, remove the weight and turn the eggplants, adding a little sprinkle of seasalt as you move them around. 

  • Once the eggplants have softened and a pool of brown water has accumulated at the bottom of the bowl, remove the plate and weight because the eggplants are ready for frying. (approx 30 min).

Frying the Eggplant slices:

 

  • In a large frying pan add vegetable oil (1 cm high) and heat over medium-high heat.

  • Prepare a large straining bowl with a double layer of paper towel to collect the excess oil from the fried eggplant slices. 

  • Once the oil is hot enough place a layer of eggplants in the pan and brown the eggplants on both sides.

  • Once both sides are browned, place them on the paper towels in the bowl to drain the excess oil. Repeat this step until all slices are fried to a golden-brown.

Preparing Eggplant "Sandwiches:"

 

  • Find pairs of fried eggplant slices that are the same size and place the matches on top of eachother, like sandwiches

  • In between the two slices of matched eggplants, add a slice (or two) of prosciutto and a slice (or two) of mozzarella

Preparing the breading for the eggplant "sandwiches:"

 

  • Whisk two eggs with a fork in a shallow plate

  • Add 1 cup of flour to a separate shallow plate

  • In a third shallow plate, add two handfuls of fine bread crumb, a handful of Parmigiano Reggiano grated, a handful of Pecorino Romano grated and mix together

Frying the Eggplant Cutlets:

 

  • Place vegetable oil (1 cm high) over medium-high heat

  • Place the shallow plates in a procession line, so that you can dip both sides of the eggplant sandwich in the flour -> Egg -> Cheese & Breadcrumbs -> Frying Pan

Made with Love Tip: Press the Eggplant Sandwich together in your hands right before frying so that it has a better chance of staying together and only flip the eggplant sandwich once, so when the breadcrumbs turn golden-brown then flip!

  • Fry on both sides, serve immediately, and eat with LOVE!

Written by The Recipe Hunters:

Leila Elamine and Anthony Morano

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