Melanzane a funghetto – or better yet, ‘mulignane a fungitiello’ in local Campania dialect – is a classic eggplant side dish recipe from the South. Meaning ‘mushroom-shaped eggplants’ in English, the recipe gets its name from the look of the eggplant (and tomatoes) after it’s been chopped, breaded and fried – with a look that more closely resembles mushrooms than eggplant!
Our recipe for melanzane a funghetto
For this traditional recipe, eggplant are fried and seasoned with tomato to make an extra-special side dish that tastes great any time of year! It also tastes delicious served alongside a cheese board with cold cuts or simply heated with bread. How do you make it? We’ve got all the details below.
Ingredients:
2 lb eggplant, 1 lb cherry tomatoes, 1 clove of garlic, Extra-virgin olive oil, Salt, Basil to taste
Method:
Wash the eggplant, remove the stem and cut into cubes. If you have the time, salt the eggplant cubes and leave them on a dish towel for an hour or so to release some of their bitter juice so they fry better.
Heat plenty of extra-virgin olive oil in a saucepan, brown a clove of garlic and set aside. Fry the eggplant cubes and then remove them with a slotted spoon, transferring them to a plate with paper towels to remove excess oil.
Peel the tomatoes and cut them in half. Transfer them to the same pan you used to fry the eggplant, eliminating any excess oil as needed. (They don’t need to fry – you’ll be transforming them to a sauce.)
Adjust the salt and add the basil leaves. Once the tomatoes soften, add the eggplant and mix with care.