The following is one of my favorite recipes. It’s an Old World traditional Sicilian entrée called Sicilian Spaghetti. Unless you’re from Palermo, you may not be familiar with this recipe unless you’ve made it yourself. Whenever I go back home to Palermo, it’s always the first thing I want to eat.

It’s an easy dish to make, as long as you follow my recipe. Remember, practice makes perfect! I know you’ll enjoy it.

Make sure that you’ve let it cool to room temperature before slicing it since it’s meant to slice like a pie.

Mangia!

You’ll need:
1 lb. Ground beef
2 large eggplants
10 oz. frozen green peas
¾ tsp. Oregano
4 tsp. Salt
Pinch of black pepper
Pinch of parsley
1 large onion
2 tbs. Butter
2 garlic cloves
½ lb. Spaghetti
¾ c. olive oil
½ c. bread crumbs
14 oz. tomato paste
1 can plum tomatoes
12 oz. parmesan cheese
1 c. cheddar cheese
Spring-loaded bakers pan

Directions:
Cut eggplant into ¼” thick slices. Meanwhile, cook pasta in a large pot of boiling water until al dente (about 8 minutes). Drain well and place in a large bowl.

Chop onion and mince garlic. Cook beef in ½ stick of butter in 10” pan over medium heat, breaking meat into fine pieces. Cook until brown and drain off the liquid. In a separate skillet, stir onion and garlic over medium heat 4-5 minutes. Add the liquid from the canned plum tomatoes and finely chop the plum tomatoes before adding to the skillet. Stir in tomato paste, oregano, salt and pepper. Heat to boiling, reduce heat to medium low and cook uncovered until liquid is reduced by half. Cook 15-20 minutes. Add meat, sauce, peas and cheddar cheese to spaghetti and mix. Add parmesan cheese and toss well.

Heat 2 tbs. Olive oil in skillet over medium high heat. Add as many slices of eggplant as will fit into pan. Cook and turn until light brown (1-2 minutes per side). Remove and drain on well-lined wire rack. Fry any remaining eggplant if necessary.

Heat oven to 350°F. Spread remaining butter on bottom and side of a 9” pan. Coat with half of the bread crumbs starting at center and working out to edges. Cover bottom of pan with a layer of overlapping eggplant slices.  Spoon some of the spaghetti mixture into pan and use it to support the side as you work. Add remaining spaghetti mixture to pan and pack down. Cover with overlapping eggplant slices. Sprinkle with remaining bread crumbs.

Bake until top is golden brown (about 35 minutes). Cool in pan on wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove sides of pan and release spring after pan cools. Sprinkle top with parsley and remember to slice when at room temperature. Buon Appetito!

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