The cuisine of Chef Stefano De Gregorio, nom de guerre ChefDeg, is a mix of North-South gastronomic cultures that often looks to the East from which the Chef draws inspiration for his contaminations. But the heart of De Gregorio, Lombard from Busto Arsizio, beats for the South of Italy with its colours, its perfumes and its traditions. Memory of a parmigiana, it is a tribute to the Eggplant Parmigiana, an iconic dish of Sicilian cuisine (but even the Neapolitans claim its paternity and in part also the people of Parma), proposed in an innovative and light version, but respecting its history
Ingredients for 4 people:
2 medium eggplants
200 g of cherry tomatoes
1 fior di latte mozzarella
1 bunch of basil
280 g of mixed pasta
untreated lemon peel
tomato powder
cup sugar
extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper
Preparation
Grease the aubergines with oil and put them in the oven to cook for 30/40 minutes at 180° C, fan oven
In the meantime, cut the cherry tomatoes, place them on a baking tray covered with baking paper and season with extra virgin olive oil, lemon peel, basil, salt and sugar and leave them to cook in the oven for 15 minutes, again at 180°C in the oven ventilated (if desired, they can go together with the aubergines). Once ready, blend the tomatoes with oil and pass the mixture through a sieve to eliminate lumps
At this point, cut the mozzarella, put it in the glass of a mixer and blend until you get a smooth cream
In the glass of a mixer, insert the basil and whisk with extra virgin olive oil
Once the aubergines are cooked, remove the pulp which will be blended with extra virgin olive oil. In the meantime, proceed with cooking the pasta and finish cooking it in the pan in the aubergine pulp and mozzarella water, just drain the pasta about three minutes before the end of cooking
Plating
Place the pasta at the base of the dish and add the mozzarella cream, the basil cream and the cherry cream on top. Finish with a sprinkling of tomato powder
