- 1 large eggplant (1 1/2 lb)
- 2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 cup olive oil
- 8 large eggs
- 1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
- 4 tsp tomato paste
- 1/4 cup water
- Peel eggplant and cut lengthwise into 1/8-inch-thick slices. Sprinkle sea salt over slices and arrange in 2 even stacks in a shallow dish.
- Put a flat dish on top of eggplant and weight with 1-lb can 2 hours.
- Rinse salt from eggplant under running water and pat slices dry between double layers of paper towel.
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Heat oil in an ovenproof 12-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat.
- Sauté eggplant in batches of 3 or 4 slices until golden, about 2 minutes per side. Drain as sautéed on brown paper or paper towels.
- Pour off oil from skillet and wipe, leaving a light coating. Cover bottom of skillet with half of eggplant, overlapping slightly, and make another layer with remaining eggplant.
- Whisk together eggs and cheese in a bowl and stir together tomato paste and water in another bowl.
- Heat skillet with eggplant over moderate heat until hot and pour in egg mixture, lifting edges of eggplant so eggs coat bottom of skillet.
- Cook omelet, uncovered, over low heat, until eggs begin to set around edge, 5 to 7 minutes.
- Slowly pour tomato mixture in a spiral pattern over surface of omelet, then bake in upper third of oven until eggs are set and pale golden, about 20 minutes.
- Loosen side and bottom of omelet and slide onto a plate. Serve at room temperature with a few grindings of black pepper.
Serves 6
*The one thing I wouldn't do is to fry the eggplant in a cup of oil, to me that's a bit excessive. I use very little oil when preparing my eggplant parmesan. Sometimes I completely omit the frying step. Use your own judgement here I would say.
(Carole OR)
