Parmigiana Bianca
Aubergine parmigiana with no tomato at all — just béchamel, basil and two cheeses. Lighter than it sounds and much harder to stop eating.
Photograph credit: Parmigiana Bianca di Zucchine by DinaBenedettoFerrandina · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
Salt the aubergine and leave it forty minutes. Without tomato there is nowhere for excess water to hide, and unsalted aubergine will flood the béchamel and leave a grey pool at the bottom of the dish. Grill or bake the slices rather than frying them — fried aubergine drinks oil, and in a white parmigiana that oil separates out and sits on top. The béchamel wants to be looser than you think, about the consistency of double cream, because it thickens further in the oven and a stiff sauce makes the layers stodgy.
Questions About Parmigiana Bianca
How long does Parmigiana Bianca take to make?
35 minutes of preparation and 55 minutes of cooking, plus 55 minutes of salting and resting, so allow 2 hours 25 minutes from start to finish. The recipe serves 6.
The Method for Parmigiana Bianca
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Layer the aubergine slices in a colander with the salt and leave 40 minutes, then rinse and squeeze them dry.
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Brush the slices with oil and grill or bake at 220°C / 430°F fan / 240°C / 465°F / gas 9 for 12 minutes, turning once, until golden and floppy.
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Melt the butter, stir in the flour and cook 2 minutes. Whisk in the milk gradually and simmer 5 minutes to a loose, pourable sauce.
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Season the béchamel with the nutmeg, salt and white pepper.
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Spread a little sauce in a baking dish. Layer aubergine, béchamel, mozzarella, parmesan and basil, and repeat three times.
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Finish with béchamel and a heavy layer of parmesan.
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Bake at 180°C / 355°F fan / 200°C / 390°F / gas 6 for 40 minutes, until blistered and set.
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Rest 15 minutes before cutting or the layers will slide.
Related guides: Prep, cook and total time · Ingredient substitutions.
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Worth Getting Right
- Forty minutes of salt. Without tomato there is nowhere for the water to go.
- Grill the aubergine, do not fry it. Fried slices leak oil into the sauce.
- A loose béchamel. It sets further in the oven.
What to Serve With It
A bitter leaf salad · Bread · Fiano
Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Ciabatta, Citrus Fennel Salad, Fave e Cicoria.
Storage
Refrigerated for 3 days and arguably better. Freezes 2 months.
Parmigiana Bianca Nutrition Facts
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Vegetarian when made with a hard cheese made without animal rennet in place of the parmigiano reggiano. Gluten-free when made with cornflour rather than plain flour.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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