We drew inspiration from two classic Italian recipes, oven pasta and aubergine parmigiana, to prepare a rich and delicious main course: lumaconi alla parmigiana! This giant pasta dish is ideal for rich and robust sauces, which can also be transformed into delicious fillings, such as lumaconi with sausage and smoked cheese. For the Parmigiana variation, we started with a simple tomato sauce with basil, which is then enriched with fried aubergines, mozzarella and Parmigiano cheese before gratinating in the oven. It’s perfect for prepping when you’re expecting guests, because while the dish is cooking in the oven, you’ll have time to deal with guests!
Ingredients
- 300 g aubergines
- 600 g mozzarella
- 200 g Parmigiano Reggiano DOP
- 50 g basil
- Extra virgin olive oil in the required quantity
- Necessary quantity of fine salt for aubergines
- 30 g all-purpose flour (type “00”)
- 200 g peanut oil for frying
- 600 g canned tomatoes (tomato paste)
- 800 g extra virgin olive oil
- 1 clove garlic
- Basil leaves for decoration
- Necessary quantity of fine salt
- Necessary amount of black pepper
Preparation
- Cut the aubergines into cubes and place them in a colander. Add 30 g of coarse salt and let them stand for at least an hour to remove excess water.
- Prepare the tomato sauce: pour olive oil into a pan and heat the garlic cloves in it. Add the tomato paste, season with salt and pepper and simmer gently for 30 minutes. Remove the garlic, add the basil leaves, crushed with your hands, and set aside.
- Fry the diced mozzarella in oil and dry off any excess oil with paper towels. Cover the eggplant cubes evenly with flour and fry them in the oil until golden brown. Drain excess oil with paper towels and set aside.
- Boil the lumacon pasta in salted water for 8 minutes. Drain and mix with pasta sauce.
- Coat a baking dish (30×20 cm) with olive oil. Put half of the pasta in it, add the fried aubergines, the mozzarella cubes and some torn basil leaves. Top with the rest of the pasta and cover with Parmigiano cheese.
- Bake at 180 degrees for 30 minutes. Allow to cool slightly before serving.
Storage
Parmigiana lumacon can be stored in the refrigerator, covered with food wrap, for up to 2 days. Freezing is not recommended.
Advice from
Guests are coming, but you’re worried you can’t plan the time right? No problem! You can prepare the mould ahead of time and bake it according to the time indicated before serving. To make sure the sauce is evenly distributed in the pasta, you can pour some of the sauce directly into the pasta!
