New York Italian - Homemade Pizza and Eggplant Parmigiana

Italian Food for the holidays:

Growing Up With An Italian Grandmother Makes You Eat want to eat!

I do whole-heartedly enjoy Italian food. Italian food is a staple in my family as that is what my mother and grandmother were raised eating.  We eat everything from Eggplant Parmigiana to the holiday traditional festive foods. Two of our holiday traditions consist of the feast of the seven fishes at Christmas and at Easter, we celebrate with our great grandmother’s famous Pizza Rustica, most times on both holidays there is enough food to feed an army.

Ultimately growing up with an Italian grandmother and an Italian mother, we always ate our meals at home. Rarely did we ever go out to eat nor did we eat at any restaurants. If we ate out, it was usually because someone either died or it was because of a special occasion. Other than that, we ate at home and we ate well.

Therefore, one of my favorite meals to eat is eggplant parmigiana along with my great grandmother’s famous Pizza Rustica. Both hold very special places in my heart especially the second dish as I am named after the woman who makes this dish. My grandmother’s eggplant parmigiana is decadent and is a family favorite. Both my mother and I have taken over making this dish and we make it just as decadent as my Grandma did. Grandma usually fried her eggplant first. She would dip the eggplant in flour and egg wash first and then placed it into the steamy oil. You let the eggplant cook for about 2-5 minutes on each side and with that, you have fried eggplant that would tempt my sneaky little sister to eat the whole stack, if Grandma didn't catch her. Well, we – my mother and I – can as well. My grandmother usually makes a tomato sauce or rather gravy for the eggplant as well. She used to do it from scratch but often now she just uses a jar sauce. However, we do still normally make it from scratch. We take about 1-2 can of crushed tomatoes, 1-2 cans tomato sauce, and I usually use about 1 can of tomato paste. To the gravy, you add a small can of water or whatever you’re liking. It depends on how thin you would like your gravy.

She then puts it all together and layers the eggplant and sauce with mozzarella cheese and Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, a staple in her home. Cheese is a staple in our home, which should come as no surprise. She will then bake the parmigiana for almost 45 minutes or until the cheese is crusty and melted.  Mangia!! 

This is one of the best dishes and if you ask me, everyone makes it fairly different. Many families like their eggplant breaded with breadcrumbs, but it just so happens that we grew up with her just dipping it in flour and egg. It is simply one meal we all wait for and especially around the holidays as well. It is definitely something I am truly looking forward to.