“Milingiani ‘Mbuttunati “(Stuffed – Buttoned Eggplant) of the grandmother!
They are a tasty second course inspired by the tradition of Southern Italy. In fact, we find variations of these eggplants, stuffed and cooked in casserole, in the Calabrian Cuisine, in the Campania and Sicilian cuisine.
Our recipe is inspired by the Calabrian style stuffed eggplants “Milingiani ‘mbuttunati”. A recipe with eggplants very special and rich in taste and Mediterranean aromas, made with only three main ingredients: small eggplants, bread crumbs and tomato puree.
Why do you button up? Cutlets are made on the eggplants as if they were slots that will be filled with a mixture of flavored bread.
If you like the Calabrese Cuisine, take a look also at Polpette di Melanzane recipe!
Wash the eggplants and cut off the ends. Make 5/6 deep vertical cuts on the whole eggplant. In each crack insert a little salt with the help of the tip of a knife and let it rest in a colander for a whole night. After this time, wash the eggplants under running water to remove the salt and squeeze well.
In a bowl, add the bread, chopped garlic and herbs, season with salt and pepper and mix together.
In each cut, insert the prepared bread mixture, taking care to compact it to fill the eggplant well.
In a large saucepan pour plenty of extra virgin olive oil, heat slightly and arrange the eggplants. Fry over medium heat until about 10/15 minutes, turning them often with pliers. Drain and place on kitchen paper.
In a large pot pour a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, sauté the sliced onion, add a chilli pepper if desired, pour the tomato sauce and cook for a few minutes.
Place the eggplants in the sauce and continue cooking for another 20 minutes.
Serve the eggplants buttoned with their sauce and slices of bread.
With the sauce obtained from the Calabrian stuffed eggplants you can also dress a nice plate of spaghetti! A truly unique perfume and taste!
Buttoned eggplants are also good cold. You can keep them covered in the fridge for a couple of days.
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