Sea parmigiana 

The sea parmigiana is a dish, tasty, light, simple preparation and a modest cost. Excellent choice as a second course in the summer season, which can be prepared in advance, a convenient solution especially when you have guests at home and you want to optimize the time in preparation. A version of eggplant parmigiana in which you can find all the flavor of the sea.

The word "parmigiana" is almost a synonym of gluttony, just pronounce it to listen to many "gnaammm" around. This recipe combines the idea of parmigiana with seafood, creating a very Mediterranean and truly delicious combination! Seafood dish par excellence, the mussel sauté is one of the typical appetizers of southern cuisine, which manages to capture every diner with its unmistakable scent. The term soutè derives from French, and indicates a particular cooking method in which molluscs, especially mussels and clams, are sautéed over high heat. The mussel soutè is a dish that never fails on the tables of Puglia, where seafood is one of the specialties of the place along with many other typical products of the gastronomy of this region. Unlike what you think, it is a very simple dish, but able to literally inebriate all the senses: the sense of smell is immediately captured by the fresh and delicate smell of this dish, made with ingredients caught directly from the crystalline sea of Puglia, which is very often served as an appetizer or second course; The taste instead remains enchanted by this meeting of flavors, between a bite and the other, which leaves enchanted all those who decide to taste this delicacy, which has now become one of the best fish dishes of Italian cuisine.

Ingredients

 500 g cherry tomatoes

 300 g mussels

 100 g anchovies

 1 eggplant

 200 g white provolone cheese 

white wine to taste  

e.v.o. oil to taste  

salt and pepper to taste

2 cloves of garlic

To prepare the sea parmigiana, start by cleaning the mussels. First of all, make sure that they are all closed: those broken or open will have to be discarded. Finally scrape away the impurities with a new scourer. Continue with the cleaning of the anchovies. Gently detach the head and intestines, then extract the central bone, without dividing them in half but leaving them whole. Place them on a plate or tray and keep them aside. Heat the e.v.o. oil with a clove of garlic in a very large pot, as soon as the garlic begins to fry throw the mussels and immediately add the black pepper (better to grind the pepper at the moment, you will get a result with a more aromatic and intense taste) and half a glass of white wine. Cover the mussels with a lid and cook over high heat until they are all open. When the mussels are all open, turn off the heat and filter the water released by them into a bowl and separately shell the mussels keeping the pulp aside. Cut the eggplant into slices about half a cm thick, cook them on a grill and put them in a bowl. Now let's dedicate ourselves to the preparation of cherry tomatoes with mussels that will then be a layer of the filling of our parmigiana. In a pan fry a clove of garlic with a little extra virgin olive oil. Add the cherry tomatoes that you have to cut in half before, and add the cooking water of the mussels (only the water do not yet insert the pulp of the mussels). Cook for about 10 minutes with a lid and if the sauce tends to dry out too much during cooking, add a little water. One minute before the completion of cooking, add the pulp of the mussels and the chopped basil. At this point we just have to cut half of our provolone into cubes and using a baking sheet we begin the composition of the layers of our parmigiana. Place a slice of eggplant on the oven and proceed by placing on them the ingredients prepared previously in the following order: a layer of tomato and mussel, sauce a layer of anchovies, a few cubes of provolone. Cover everything with a slice of eggplant and repeat the steps above to create an additional layer. Created our two layers at this point we just have to cover the top of our parmigiana with some cubes of provolone and other tomatoes. Do not forget to add a pinch of chopped parsley. We just have to bake our parmigiana in the oven for about 10 minutes at 200 ° C. The oven must already be hot when you insert the baking tray into it. No as soon as the provolone is completely melted, take out of the oven, serve and garnish with a basil leaf. ENJOY YOUR MEAL!