Back
Parmigiana & Meatballs
Recipe by Aldo Ortado
This rich and decadent Italian dish is bursting with flavour.
- Steps
- Ingredients
Steps
- For the Polpette, place the bread into a food processor and pulse to crumbs. Place into a small bowl and mix in the milk. Set aside to soak for 5 minutes.
- Place remaining ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
- Squeeze the bread to remove as much milk as possible. Add to mince mixture and mix thoroughly by hand. Roll the mixture into 16-20 balls, approximately 40-50g each, and set aside on a tray.
- For the Napolitano Sauce, remove the skin from the fat and set aside. Chop the fat into small pieces and place into a medium saucepan. Add the olive oil and cook over gentle heat until the fat is rendered, about 8-10 minutes. Add the onion and cook until caramelised, about 5-7 minutes. Add the passata then rinse out the bottle and add to the pan. Bring to the boil. Add the pork skin, reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Add the basil leaves, salt and pepper and simmer for a further 10 minutes. Add the meatballs and simmer for 20 minutes, or until meatballs are cooked through. Remove pan from the heat.
- For the Parmigiana di Melanzane, prepare a large bowl of salted water. Slice the eggplant lengthways into 8 x 1cm thick slices. Place into the salted water for 10 minutes. Drain well and squeeze out excess water.
- Heat a thin layer of oil in a large frypan over medium high heat. Add the eggplant slices and cook for 1 minute on each side. Remove from the oil and drain well on paper towel and allow to cool. Remove pan from the heat.
- Prepare the coating: place eggs and 50g parmesan into a bowl and whisk together. Place flour and salt in a separate bowl.
- Return the pan to a low heat and add more oil if required. Dust the eggplant slices in flour then place into the egg wash. Add to the oil on batches and cook until crispy and browned, about 3 minutes on each side. Remove from the oil and place onto several layers of paper towel to remove excess oil. Season with salt.
- To assemble, spoon some sauce from the pan into a wide serving bowl. Top with 2 slices eggplant and season with salt. Spoon over more sauce, a sprinkle of parmesan and basil leaves. Repeat process with remaining eggplant and sauce.
- To serve, slice the ciabatta into 1cm slices. Top with some eggplant then a meatball and break apart with a fork.
