Vegetarian Parmigiana, Tangy Greens, Blue Cheese Biscuit
I don't usually associate vegetables with bold, broad flavours. Yet, here we are! This is a recipe for courgette and aubergine parmigiana. The tangy greens are a combination of rocket, italian parlsey, oregano and capsicum with olive oil and vinegar. Coupled with potato mash quenelle and a biscuit of blue cheese and breadcrumbs. Delicious! Recipe below.
Ingredients
For the Parmigiana
1 Aubergine, cut into thin rings
4 Courgettes, cut into thin ribbons
4 White Onions, peeled and finely sliced
6 Cloves of Garlic, peeled and minced
4 Teaspoons dried Oregano
2 Teaspoons Paprika
800g of Chopped Tomatoes
1/4 Cup Red Wine Vinegar
3 Whole Roma Tomatoes, or other sweet red variety, thinly sliced
300g Mozzarella, grated
100g Parmesan, grated
Fresh Basil Leaves
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil
For the Blue Cheese Biscuit
Blue Cheese
Dried Marjoram
Breadcrumbs
Pepper
Olive oil
For the Tangy Greens
1 Green Capsicum
1 Bunch of Italian Parsley
1 Tablespoon Fresh Oregano Leaves
Olive Oil
1 Clove of Garlic
Red Wine Vinegar
Salt/Pepper
For the Mashed Potatoes
800g Starchy Yellow Potatoes, like Agria, peeled and diced
1/4 Cup Cream
25g Butter
Salt
Pepper
Method
This is nice and easy, despite the intimidating list.
Preheat the oven to 190 C.
Whip out two frying pans and put them both on a medium heat and a lug of olive oil. In one pan, saute the onion, garlic and oregano. Cook until lightly browning and soft.
In the other frying pan, take the 800g of tomatoes and mix with red wine vinegar and paprika. Reduce until thick. Add salt and pepper to make the flavours pop.
Layer your parmigiana into a oiled dish - approximately 2 layers each of courgette and aubergine. Go in this order: tomato, aubergine, salt/pepper, onion, a little mozzarella, courgette, tomato, onion, mozzarella, parmesan, salt/pepper, aubergine, tomato, onion, mozzarella, courgette. The final layer should be a layer of basil leaves, the last of the mozzarella, followed by slices of Roma tomato.
Pop it in the oven.
Boil the potatoes until soft. Drain. Salt well then mash with cream, butter and pepper.
For the greens, mince the ingredients finely with a knife on a chopping board. It should work together into a crumbly texture. Move to a bowl then mix with 3 tablespoons of the vinegar and 4 tablespoons of olive oil.
Finally, with the biscuits, take a non-stick frying pan. Drizzle some olive oil in it. Each biscuit needs a couple of knobs of blue cheese. Put the blue cheese in the frying pan, sprinkle about two teaspoons of breadcrumbs and a pinch of marjoram on top. As the blue cheese melts, work the breadcrumbs in, and eventually, form it into a circle. Once it holds together, move it to a piece of wax paper. Rinse and repeat for as many as you need. Put it in the oven for the last ten minutes of the parmigiana.
Serve a slice of parmigiana on the greens, with a quenelle of potato and a biscuit.
Enjoy!
