Mushroom aubergines, photo and video recipe of the Neapolitan dish

Mushroom aubergines are the perfect recipe for a tasty side dish. Quick to prepare, they are suitable for accompanying many second courses.

Mushroom aubergines are a classic side dish with great flavour , perfect not only with dishes based on meat, eggs, cured meats and cheeses, but also to be "interpreted" as a single dish, perhaps accompanied by some very hot croutons on which you have rubbed some fresh garlic. What are we talking about? It's actually a simple dish of fried aubergines seasoned with tomato . The origin of the name seems to be due to the appearance that aubergines take on after cooking, when they become – in fact – similar to mushrooms .

In the Neapolitan tradition (this recipe is, in fact, of Neapolitan origin) they are called mulignane a fungitiello and are often also used as a condiment for pasta , as well as as a fridge-emptying idea.
Also known as mushroom aubergines, in their classic recipe they are fried, but if you want you can try a less tasty recipe, cooking the aubergines in the oven. Furthermore, although the most popular variant is the tomato one, there are also white ones . Let's see how to do it with photo steps or the video recipe !

• Recipe
• Baked variant
• Mushroom aubergines in white
• Conservation

How to cook mushroom aubergines

1. To prepare this aubergine side dish following the original recipe, start by dicing the vegetables.

2. Heat some sunflower seed oil and fry the aubergine cubes, then drain them with a slotted spoon and let them dry well from the excess oil .

3. Now cut the copper tomatoes into cubes and brown them in a pan in which you have browned two peeled and well crushed cloves of garlic in extra virgin olive oil. Cook for a few minutes, salting as needed.

4. Now, also add the fried aubergines. Add plenty of fresh basil, chopped by hand , so that its aroma perfumes the vegetables.
5. Season with salt and cook the vegetables with the tomatoes for another couple of minutes, to blend all the flavors together . Enjoy your meal!

Some versions require the aubergines to be purged in salt for about an hour before preparation. However, it is not essential: we have tried to offer you a quick and easy recipe ready in the shortest time possible .

If you wish, add some spicy chilli pepper , for a taste more faithful to the southern Italian tradition. Don't have fresh tomatoes at home? You can also use canned tomatoes , but the flavor will be lost a little.

Baked mushroom aubergines

Do you want a lightweight alternative? Let's also see how to make non-fried mushroom aubergines: the ingredients are the same, but cooking is much less caloric .

1. First, cut the aubergines into cubes (the smaller they are, the faster they will cook) after having washed them carefully.
2. Place on a baking tray – without salt – well spaced apart and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C for about 20 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, cut the tomatoes into cubes and brown them in a pan with a drizzle of oil and a clove of garlic. When the aubergines are cooked, add them to the pan and cook everything together for another 5 minutes with herbs, salt and pepper.
4. At this point, the flavors will have mixed well: plate and enjoy hot. You will see that even light mushroom aubergines are tasty and tasty . Enjoy your meal!

For another side dish with aubergines, we suggest pan-fried aubergines !

Mushroom aubergines in white

The white aubergine recipe is less popular than the red tomato one, but still worth mentioning .

1. To prepare them, dip the irregular aubergine cubes into the pan, where you have fried a little garlic and oil.
2. Cook covered for about 15 minutes ; then add the basil and the other aromas to taste and after 5 minutes, enjoy them!

Conservation

Store them in the fridge (covered with cling film or in an airtight container) for a couple of days . Have you done too many? In this case you can freeze them in convenient single portions and enjoy them even in winter.
Alternatively, the day after preparation, they become an excellent sauce for pasta: drain it al dente, directly into a pan with your aubergines and tomato, and let the flavors blend together for a minute. Here is our complete recipe for making pasta with mushroom aubergines !

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