I know it is Monday here in Portland, but it is Tuesday in New Zealand and Australia where some of you folks live.

In last Friday’s post I included a photo of a crispy, cheese-filled, aubergine. The Travel Architect, one of my favorite bloggers, asked about the recipe, so here it is.

Tramezzino di melanzane, or eggplant sandwiches, are from the region of Turin. They traditionally use bread slices with eggplant slices, but that just does not work for me, instead of bread these are coated in mayonnaise and panko which gives them their crispy exterior. This is a pretty simple process, yes, it has a few more steps than some recipes, but it really is easy and well worth any extra effort. The most challenging part is the messy business of coating the packets with mayonnaise and the panko. It is also nice in that it is baked, no sputtering oil to clean up.

As far as the mayo goes, make your own if you can, I posted the technique and a video a few months ago, and I know that some followers have tried it with success. We have not bought mayo for years, and when we have had other store bought mayos we are always modestly arrogant that mine is better, as well as less expensive and with no added chemicals. And it is so easy. Be sure to use eggs from happy chickens.

So here we go:

Ingredients – for 2 servings, with possible leftovers

• 1 medium aubergine (eggplant – but aubergine sounds so much more international)
• Salt
• Olive oil
• Gruyère or Comté cheese
• Mayonnaise
• Panko

Peel, then slice the aubergine into 1cm thick rounds. Salt the slices generously on both sides and place in a colander while you do the rest of the prep.

Preheat the oven to 350F (180C)

Mise en place If there was one tip I could give to new cooks it would be this one. The literal translation is “putting in place,” it refers to the practice of getting ALL of your ingredients out, measured, and ready before you start cooking – you avoid a panicked search, or realizing half-way through that you are out of something. So while the aubergine is hanging out and sweating in the colander get everything else ready.

Slice enough cheese to fill the packets, mine are usually sliced no more than .5cm thick.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Set up two saucers – one with a few tablespoons of mayo, the other with a few of panko. (Pro tip, have someone handy to add more while you are assembling as your hands will be a mess and I have yet to ever put out enough on the first go.)

Assemble

Lay a kitchen towel on the counter, then rinse the salt off of each of the aubergine slices placing them in a single layer on the towel. I try to match up the slices together that are the same size. Then fold the towel over and press to get most of the water off, not a big deal if they are not completely dry.

Make the packets. I start by stacking the pairs of slices on the cutting board, we usually end up with about 6 of the sandwiches – you want the slices to be pretty close to the same size. Then place a layer of cheese in between the slices.

Now comes the fun, but messy, part. Pick one packet up and coat the top, bottom, and sides with mayo, don’t overdo it, just enough to hold the panko in place. I usually do the top, turn it over, then do the edge. Then cover it with panko, you want it well covered, but I often have some uncovered bits and it is fine. Place the mayo-panko covered packet on the baking sheet and repeat for the rest of the packets.

Drizzle a bit of olive oil over the top, but honestly I forget this step about half the time with little ill effect.

Bake

Bake for 20 minutes, then turn and bake for another 15 minutes, or until golden as in the photo above – some cheese will melt out and turn into wonderful crispy bits, the best part. Let them sit for about 5 minutes and you are ready to enjoy.

Let me know if you give this a try, or if there is anything I didn’t make clear. Bon appétit !