Eggplant Parmesan is a classic Italian dish made with slices of eggplant breaded and deep fried or baked, smothered with marinara sauce (a tomato-based Italian sauce) and lots of mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese, then baked till the cheese melts to a ooey-gooey delight; a piece of Italian cuisine on a plate!! Traditional eggplant parmesan is deep or shallow fried breaded eggplant slices, topped with marinara sauce and melting cheese. If you are very health and calorie conscious, you can bake the eggplant slices in a hot oven. I have tried this, and to be frank, nothing like a crispy fried piece of spicy breaded eggplant for me, especially my husband who prefers it that way! You can choose to bake. But trust me, when you want to do justice to this Italian classic dish, go my way and shallow fry it in a little oil. There are some recipes you hold dear to your heart. These are the ones you would love to make again and again, but sometimes, the lengthy procedure deters you to make it too often!! Eggplant parmesan is one among them. That has not stopped me from indulging in a steaming hot plate of eggplant parmesan once in a while, especially when I come across a gorgeous piece of eggplant in the grocery aisle, waiting to be found. Whenever, my husband comes across one, we are sure to have eggplant Parmesan for dinner soon.
The first step involves making the homemade marinara sauce; only homemade for us. If you find yourself getting a bit lazy, feel free to spice up store bought marinara sauce with some jalapenos and more vegetables.
The second step is slicing the eggplant into thick slices and “sweating” them. This process involves sprinkling the slices with salt to draw out the excess moisture which is then wiped off with a paper towel. If you skip this step, you may end up with soggy eggplant bites!!
Third step is breading the slices with a mixture of breadcrumbs after an egg wash. I like to avoid eggs in my cooking, so milk it is. For a spicy touch, chilli flakes and Italian herbs have been added to breadcrumbs and crushed cornflakes (for extra crunch) mixture. Make an assembly line of flour, milk and breadcrumb mixture, dip twice in all of them, starting with flour, then milk and finally breadcrumbs (repeat the process). Spicy coated eggplants are ready to be fried or baked.
Shallow fry them till golden brown, turning often, to a crispy delicious bite of eggplant crunch! Make sure you soak the excess oil on paper towels!! (These crispy, crunchy Italian spiced eggplant bites are great as snack by itself with homemade marinara sauce as a dipping sauce!)
Smother the prepared eggplant bites in homemade marinara sauce, shower with as much mozzarella cheese as you love and bake in a convection oven (you can use the grill or broil mode) or microwave till the cheese melts. Top with more cheese; Parmesan cheese, and some chilli flakes. Scrumptious Eggplant Parmesan is ready to dive into.
Serve it with some garlic bread/toasted plain bread and a fresh salad for a complete meal!!
Join the party at #RecipeoftheWeek | #FuntasticFriday | #FiestaFriday | #FoodFriday Cook Time: 30 minutes
For fried eggplant: 1 medium eggplant/Baingan/Aubergine/Brinjal All-purpose flour/maida Milk for dipping the eggplant slices 2 cups of dried bread crumbs or crushed cornflakes (or mixture of both) 1 teaspoon Chilli flakes ½ teaspoon Dried Italian seasoning Salt to taste Oil for deep frying For Marinara Sauce: 4 large tomatoes 3 to 4 green chillies/jalapenos 2 cups of readymade tomato puree ½ cup red onions, finely chopped 4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or grated ¼ cup of finely chopped bell pepper/capsicum ½ cup of finely chopped mushrooms ½ teaspoon crushed red chilli flakes 1 teaspoon of dried Italian seasoning ½ teaspoon black pepper powder 1 teaspoon sugar Salt to taste 2 tablespoons olive oil Toppings: 1 to 2 cups grated mozzarella ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese Few basil leaves Red chilli flakes
Instructions For more Italian recipes, try: Homemade Vegetarian Yeast Pizza
Spaghetti in Chunky Tomato Sauce
or Cheesy Spinach Lasagna Rolls
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