I’ve very recently fell in love with eggplant parmigiana. I ate it from my work’s deli hot bar. It was good, but I knew that I could make it better. Eggplant parmigiana’s origins are from the southern regions of Italy; Calabrian, Campania, Apulia, and Sicily all claiming it’s creation. The dish consists of breaded and fried slices of eggplant baked in a tomato sauce, topped with parmesan cheese. Instead of frying the eggplant, I baked it in the oven until crispy; reducing the amount of oil used to make it slightly healthier. To completely ruin the healthier aspect, I added a garlic cream sauce to the dish; plus slices of mozzarella.
Prep Time30 minutesmins
Cook Time40 minutesmins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: how to make, Italian, main course, vegetarian
Author: Alex Gorgos
Ingredients
Cream Sauce
4tbspbutter
4garlic cloves minced
3tbspflour
3cupswhole milk
1/4cupparmesan cheese
black pepper to taste
saltto taste
Eggplant Parmigiana
1largeeggplant sliced into 1” pieces
salt
1/4cupflour
2largeeggs beaten
1 1/2cupsbreadcrumbs
1/4cupolive oil
2cupstomato sauce divided
fresh mozzarella sliced
1tbspdried basil
1tbspdried parsley
1tbspdried oregano
1/2cupparmesan cheese
Instructions
Slice the eggplant and salt liberally to extract the moisture. Let sit for 10 minutes.
Make an assembly line of flour in a bowl, beaten egg in one, and breadcrumbs in another. Dredge the eggplant in flour, then the beaten egg, and finally the breadcrumbs.
Pour the olive oil on a baking sheet. Place the breaded eggplant on the baking sheet.
Bake in a 400 degree preheated oven for 20 minutes; flipping half way through.
While the eggplant is baking, melt the butter in a pot over medium heat. Sauté the minced garlic for 2 minutes. Whisk in the flour.
Pour in the whole milk and continue to whisk for 5 minutes until thickened.
Take off the heat. Whisk in the parmesan cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Pour half of the tomato sauce into a large glass baking dish. Arrange the eggplant on top of the sauce.
Pour over the cream sauce.
Place a spoonful of sauce on top of each slice of eggplant; followed by a slice of mozzarella. Season with the dried herbs. Top with the parmesan cheese.
Bake in a 400 degree preheated oven for 30-40 minutes until the top is bubbly. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving.