Eggplant Doublets "Doppiette di Melanzane'

by Esther Milne April 22, 2019

Mediterranean Diet

Ingredients

Large Eggplants (2 or 3)
3 jars Papa Vince Cherry Tomato Sauce
Mozzarella Cheese
Parmesan Cheese
Bechamel Sauce (click for recipe)
Fresh Basil
Papa Vince Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Spaghetti

How to make

Make some spaghetti and mix with Papa Vince Cherry Tomato Sauce & EVOO. Coat the spaghetti thoroughly with the sauce.Thinly Slice the eggplants and gently fry in Papa Vince EVOO. Leave to cool and soak up any excess oil from the eggplants.
To make the doublet or roll, take a small portion of spaghetti and place on the eggplant slice with a little extra tomato sauce, piece of Mozzarella, fresh Basil leaf and roll up together. Place it in an oven proof dish lined with wax paper.
Continue making the rolls until the dish in full.
Cover all the rolls with a layer of tomato sauce and then with Bechamel Sauce. Finish with some fresh basil and Parmesan Cheese.
Bake in a preheated oven for 10-15 minutes at 400 degrees.

Preparation Time

Prep time: 10 mins
Cook time: 40 mins
Serves: 4 people

Background

This is a typical dish from Messina which incorporates so many of the fresh ingredients of Sicilian cuisine. Recipes in Sicily vary so much by cities and regions and Vitina told me that despite visiting her family in Sicily so many times, this was the first time she ever experienced this dish. Her family is from the Eastern side and the food is different!

On a recent trip to Sicily, Stefano & Vitina met Genni in Messina who opened up her kitchen & introduced them to 'eggplant doublets' which can be described as eggplant spaghetti sandwiches covered in rich tomato sauce, cheese and fresh basil. Genni loves to cook, the family used to own a restaurant and a wine store and she is an experienced sommelier so she knew exactly which wines to pair with this meal.

Here is Genni's recipe and be sure to watch her in the video, she is so much fun in the kitchen. Just so you know ... Italians don't measure their ingredients and Genni was no exception, all I can say is that they are very generous and like to be abundant in the kitchen!

Video

You'll see in the video that Genni made 2 layers in one dish. She was cooking for her whole family and ovens are a lot smaller in Sicily. If you're cooking for a large group, you can do the same or just make 2 separate dishes. If you make the 2 layers just be sure to use parchment paper to separate the layers and not wax paper!

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