EGGPLANT MOZZARELLA

SOURCE: DAVID GEISSER, ERWIN NIEDERBERGER, AND THOMAS KELLY. THE VATICAN COOKBOOK: 500 YEARS OF CLASSIC RECIPES, PAPAL TRIBUTES, AND EXCLUSIVE IMAGES OF LIFE AND ART AT THE VATICAN.

By signing the Lateran Treaty in 1929, the Italian monarchy entered into an agreement with the Holy See and offered the lone castle in Castel Gandolfo to serve as the summer estate and vacation retreat of the Pope. The apostolic palace, a former residence of the Roman Emperor Domitian and one of the two legally extraterritorial properties of the papacy outside of Rome, comes with a self-sufficient farm capable of growing and supplying eggplants and tomatoes for the Vatican kitchen and raising cows that produce the finest milk for Mozzarella cheese. Combining these ingredients ends up with a serving of Eggplant Mozzarella, the favorite dish of the Swiss Pontifical Guards, who watch over the Pope wherever he goes and stays, and that includes Castel Gandolfo.

Ingredients

1 teaspoon/3 grams finely chopped garlic

1 tablespoon/2 grams finely chopped thyme, preferably picked fresh on the same day for best results

1 tablespoon/2 grams finely chopped rosemary, preferably picked fresh on the same day for best results

1/4 cup/60 mL olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 large eggplant, trimmed off its ends and cut into 0.5-inch/1.27-cm slices

1 cup/120 grams all-purpose flour

4 lightly beaten eggs

1 cup/80 grams freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

4 ounces/120 grams clarified butter or ghee

3 plum tomatoes, trimmed off its stems and cut into 0.25-inch/0.63-cm slices

4 ounces/120 grams Mozzarella cheese, cut into 0.13-inch/0.32-cm slices

Specific Equipment

Large mixing bowl

Tray

Whisk

Large mixing bowl

Nonstick skillet or sauté pan

Baking dish

Serves 4 to 6

Instructions

1. Combine garlic, thyme, rosemary, and olive oil in a large mixing bowl until well-blended. Season with salt and pepper according to taste. Toss in the eggplant slices until well-coated. Set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 480°F/250°C.

3. Pour flour into tray. Remove the eggplant slices from the olive oil mixture, letting the excess oil drip off, and toss into flour until lightly coated.

4. Whisk the eggs and Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese altogether in a large mixing bowl until well-blended. Dredge off excess flour from the eggplant slices and dip both sides of each slice into the egg-cheese mixture. Return the eggplant slices into the flour to coat again.

5. Spoon the clarified butter or ghee onto a nonstick skillet or sauté pan over medium heat. Fry the eggplant slices, turning once, for 4 to 5 minutes or until both sides are golden brown.

6. Transfer the fried eggplant to a baking dish, and arrange them in a single layer of overlapping circles. Top each eggplant slice with alternate slices of tomatoes. Place each slice of Mozzarella cheese between the tomato and eggplant slices.

7. Bake for 10 minutes or until the Mozzarella cheese has completely melted and turned golden brown.