Food Lover's Odyssey

Involtini di Melanzane - Starter for a Sicilian-Inspired Holiday Dinner

 

 

 

Last weekend we celebrated my cousin Paula's birthdy, and she is also one of my most faithful readers.  For her birthday, she asked me to cook a traditional Italian dinner, meaning we would have antipasti (before meal "snacks" or appetizers), a primo piatto (first plate - usually consisting of a pasta or rice dish or soup), a secondo piatto (second course - the protein course), and a dolce (sweet or dessert).  Since I'm a huge fan of the dolci, I served two desserts, a "pre-dessert" and a main dessert.  In the traditional four-hour Italian dinner, there would also be a contorno (side dish - the vegetable course) which is served along with the main course, but someone (me) forgot to put it in the oven.....oops. Luckily there was enough food, that no one missed it.

 This dinner was especially fun to create, not only was it Italian, but all the dishes sang of the Sicilian flavors, the birthplace of my grandparents.  There was the eggplant, tomato, cheese combination, prevelant throughout the south of Italy.  Salty sea flavors of Sicily, capers and anchovies, were in the pasta.  Pine nuts and currants, that sweet combination from the island, were added to the pork dish.  Dessert was a completely Sicilian affair with granita and the traditional birthday cake from Palermo.  I'm so excited to share this Sicilian-Inspired holiday menu with you. It's a great way to bring a little bit of Italy and Sicily into your holiday dinner, whether that holiday be a birthday or Christmas - or both.

 

 Paula's Italian Birthday Dinner Menu

~ Antipasti ~

Involtini di Melanzane

~ Primo Piatto ~

Spaghetti Siracusana

~ Secondo Piatto ~

Bracioala di Maiale

~ I Dolci ~

Granita di Limone

and

Torta Setteveli

 

Eventually, I will be sharing all the recipes with you, but today I've started with the starter.  Below is the recipe for the Involtini di Melanzane (Eggplant Rolls).  Involtini is Italian term for any food that is rolled, and filled.  You will also see involtini of fish (especially sword fish), beef and veal on many Sicilian menus.  Come back Friday when I'll have the recipe for Torta Setteveli - the birthday cake in Palermo.  I've been wanting to recreate this cake ever since I had it last October. Next Monday, I'll be serving Braciola di Maiale (Braised Rolled Pork Shoulder).  I've provided links to recipes from this menu that I've already shared here on Food Lover's Odyssey: Spaghetti Siracusana and Meyer Lemon Granita. I hope you make the entire dinner for a special occasion, or try one of them to add a little Sicilian flavor to your holidays.

 

 

Involtini di Melanzane
(makes 20 involtini)

3 - 4 eggplants, yielding 20 lengthwise slices ¼-inch thick
2 tablespoons sea salt
About 2 cups olive oil
2 cups Parmigiano-Regiano cheese
1 ½ cups breadcrumbs
¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
10 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into ½-inch cubes
1 cup tomato sauce (see recipe below)

 

Layer the eggplant slices in a colandar, sprinkling each layer with salt. Cover the top with a paper towel and place something heavy on top of the covered eggplant to help release their juices, which tend to be bitter.  Let sit for 2 hours.  After the 2-hour period, rinse the slices of eggplant with water and pat dry. 

In a large saute pan, add olive oil until it is about 3/4-inch deep.  Heat the olive oil and add some of the slices of eggplant and fry them until they are lightly browned on each side, 2-3 minutes per side.  Take the slices out and drain them on paper towels.  You may have to add more olive oil one or two more times during the frying process.  Make sure to heat the oil before adding the eggplant slices.)

Preheat an oven to 375 F.

Spread about 3/4 cup of the tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish. 

To make the filling, mix together, in a bowl, the grated Parmigiano, breadcrumbs, parsley and pepper.  Reserve 1/4 cup of this filling and set aside.  Take a fried eggplant slices and lay them out on a working surface.  Spread about 2 teaspoons of the filling mixter over each eggplant.  One inch from the top of each eggplant, place 4-5 cubes of the mozzarella.  Roll up the eggplant and place them in the baking dish, with the end part down.  Spread the remaining tomato sauce in a line over the center of the eggplant rolls.  Bake for 10 minutes.  Sprinkle a little of the Parmigiano/breadcrumb mixture and sprinkle over the top where the sauce is.  Bake for another 5 minutes.  Remove from the oven and serve.  Buon Appetito!

 

Tomato Sauce
(makes about 2 cups)

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, finely diced
1 tablespoon salt, divided in half, plus more to taste
3 cloves garlic, minced
¾ cup white wine
One 28-ounce can San Marzano peeled tomatoes, chopped or crushed by hand and their juices
½ cup basil, chopped

In a saute pan, heat the olive oil.  Add the onions and half the salt and sweat the onions for 3-4 minutes over medium heat, until they are translucent.  Add the garlic and cook a scant minute (don't let the garlic burn).  Add the wine and turn the heat to high to cook off the alcohol.  Add the tomatoes, basil, oregano and remaining salt, and bring to a boil.  Lower to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.  Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary.

 

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How do your travels and/or heritage inspire your holiday meals?  What are some of those dishes you have included in Christmas dinners?

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***This post is part of WanderFood Wednesdays - Go on over to the site and check out other posts from more food lovers who travel.

 

 

Related Posts:

Cassata Siciliana

Cannoli alla Siciliana

Torta Setteveli - Seven Veils Cake from Palermo

Holiday Dessert Recipes

Eggplant Caponata and Sicilian Market Etiquette 

Cassatelle alla Siciliane (Sweet Fried Ravioli with Ricotta Cream filling)

Pasta con le Sarde (Pasta with Sardines, Tomato and Wild Fennel Sauce)

The Dish from Sicily: Arancino - Sicilian Fast Food

Good Views and Good Eats in Taormina

Foods Not to Miss in Sicily

Totano Festival and a Weekend in the Aeolian Islands

The Dish from Sicily: Granita

Eggplant Caponata and Sicilian Market Etiquette

 

 

Lines don't really exist in Italy. There might seem to be a line, but Italians know all those fools are foreigners. They will walk right by through you and up to the cashier, as if you were invisible. Once during a break from Italian class, we students were in line to pay for our coffee, snacks, etc. Noticing this strange phenomena, the cashier yelled to his colleagues that it was obvious we were stranieri (foreigners) because of the perfect line we had formed.

 

 

 

Street markets are even more chaotic and it's every man, woman, and child for him/herself. If it's crowded and you are timid or polite, forget about ever getting service. I went with my cousin Mariella to the mercatino (little street market) in Palermo. Mariella, barely five feet two, wedged her way through the crowd with her rolling shopping bag behind her. She pushed her way up to the counter and asked, "Chi e l'ultima?" (Who is last?) They politely told her and then each person waited their turn. This happened at each vendor's counter during the day. Imagine my surprise! At one point Mariella asked me why my mouth was agape. There is actually some logic to the chaos of the street market. Who knew?

 

 

 

We shopped for ingredients to make caponata. Caponata is a vegetable dish, mainly eggplant, in an agrodolce sauce. Agrodolce, a sour and sweet sauce, is YUM, YUM YUM!! It's also used with fish, winter squash, and with seafood salads. Here's the thing; it's also easy to make, just 1 part sugar to 2 parts vinegar. (The term agrodolce also describes things that are both sweet and sour at the same time, a movie, a breakup, a graduation or other ending that leads to a beginning. ) The theory with agrodolce is that you need both the sweet and the sour together, each contrasting and accentuating the other, but as a whole the flavor is balanced and harmonious.

Below is Mariella's recipe, with one little additon. I've added some sultanas (golden raisins) to the recipe because I think the sultanas hold the agrodolce sauce and balance the tartness of the capers. Caponata should be served at room temperature---never warm. It's best if served the day after you make it.

 

 

 

 

Mariella's Eggplant Caponata

Makes 8 cups

 

2 pounds of eggplant (about 4)

1/2 cup white wine vinegar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

3 stalks celery, diced

2 cups olive oil

1 onion, finely diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 (15 ounce) can peeled tomatoes, roughly chopped

5 ounces pitted green olives, quartered

4 ounces capers, rinsed

1/4 cup sultanas (golden raisins)

2 1/2 teaspoons salt, plus more to taste

2 pinches of pepper, plus more to taste

Cut the eggplant into one-inch cubes, leaving the skin on. Place in a colander, sprinkling each layer with salt. Cover with a paper towel and weigh down with plates. Leave for one hour, allowing the excess water to drain.

Sweeten the vinegar by adding the sugar and set aside. Blanch the celery in boiling salted water for 2 minutes.

Rinse the eggplant and pat completely dry. Heat 1/4 cup oil in a large sauté pan, and cook one-fourth of the eggplant cubes over high heat for 4 to 5 minutes. Place the cooked eggplant on paper to drain. Continue cooking the eggplant in this way in 3 more stages.

Drain the excess olive oil from the sauté pan used for cooking the eggplant, leaving about 2 tablespoons of oil in the pan. On high heat, sweat the onion and a pinch of salt for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the celery and cook an additional 2 minutes. Add the garlic and cook about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes with the juices, the olives, capers, sultanas, salt and pepper. Cook on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add the eggplant and the sweetened vinegar and cook about 5 minutes more. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

Cool and refrigerate overnight. You can serve it as an appetizer on toasted bread or as a side vegetable. Buon Appetito!

 

 

Related Posts:

Involtini di Melanzane -Stuffed Eggplant Rolls

Foods Not to Miss in Italy

Torta Setteveli - Seven Veils Cake from Palermo

Cassatelle alla Siciliana (Sweet Ricotta Cream Fried Ravioli)

When Life Gives You Lemons - Make Lemon Granita

Pasta con le Sarde and Cooking in Palermo

A Taste of the Sea and Spaghetti Siracusana

Cannoli alla Siciliana

Braciola di Maiale - Braised Pork Roll for a Sicilian Holiday Dinner

Good Views and Good Eats in Taormina

A Weekend in the Aeolian Islands

The Dish from Sicily: Arancino

The Dish from Sicily: Granita

Tiramisu Recipe - And How to Almost Get Thrown Out of the House in Sicily