summertime: you don’t want to stay locked in the kitchen while the guests are enjoying the panorama and the drinks, do you? free the aperitivo time from your cooking!
involtini alle melanzane (for 2 persons)
what you need:
-1 large aubergine, longer rather than round
-mozzarella for pizza (not the one in water)
-tomato sauce and breadcrumbles
-fresh basil
-oil, a frying pan, garlic and toothpicks
take the aubergine and wash it. slice it by the lenght, the slices should be 4 to 6 mm. to have an idea, they have to be thin enough to be bendable (we are going to roll the melanzane up with the mozzarella slices, but not too thin to avoid them falling in pieces). place them in a plate with salted water. take the mozzarella and slice it. usually this mozzarella comes in the form of a rectangular polyhedron, in which case you have to slice it by lenght as well. once done this, heat up some frying oil in the frying pan. peel a clove of garlin and pierce it with a fork. add the garlic to the oil untill it start frying, then throw it away. take the sliced aubergine out of the water and carefully dry it with kitchen paper. it is important to dry them well to avoid oil volcanos when frying them. place them in the oil and lightly fry them: say half a minute per side. then keep them aside. once done with the frying, roll up the mozzarella slices in the aubergines, and fix each roll with a toothpick. place the rolls in a pirex, sprinkle some breadcrumbles on it, and cover with the tomato sauce. adjust with salt and pass it in the pre-heated oven for 10-15 mins at 180 dg.
you can eat them warm or cold.
VARIANT: when you roll the melanzana and the mozzarella you may want to add a slice of smokes ham or a anchovy.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: chef Pipito for suggesting the recipe.
scratfromscratch