This classic Italian Eggplant Parmigiana is the perfect Sunday dish to bake. It’s like eating lasagna, but with eggplants and some fresh basil. It’s so comforting and your house will smell amazing! This dish is also gluten-free.
It’s the perfect way to use any leftover sauce you may have in your freezer. We love using spaghetti sauce for this recipe. You can either use a vegetarian or a meat sauce.
What’s Eggplant Parmigiana?
It’s a traditional Italian dish similar to lasagna but with slices of globe eggplant replacing pasta. Usually topped with Parmesan cheese and mozzarella.
Eggplants: Everything You Need to Know
Keep in mind that not only do eggplants hold on to moisture, but they also absorb oil like a sponge.
Remove Water
An important step to our recipe is to salt the eggplant slices generously and let them rest for 30 minutes to an hour. That way, we will remove the water from the eggplants. Pat them dry and dust off the excess salt. Then you’ll be ready to start making your eggplant Parmesan.
Brush With Oil
To cook the eggplant slices, we want to put enough olive oil on both sides of each eggplant slice.
Assemble :
- Add ¼ of the sauce in the bottom of the pan.
- After that, we will make 3 layers :
1- Eggplants : 12 eggplant slices
2- Sauce : spread it evenly to cover eggplant slices.
3- Cheese : parmesan for the 2 layers and mozzarella for the last layer.
4- Basil : keep the basil for the final layer aside so that you can sprinkle some basil on the eggplant parmigiana after cooking.
Sauce
Here are some options:
- Use any leftover sauce you have in your freezer (strongly recommended). We always make a big batch of spaghetti sauce that we keep frozen. It can also be a vegetarian sauce. In total we will need 1.5 L of sauce for this recipe.
- Another hack I love doing is mixing together 1 L of my homemade spaghetti sauce with 500 ml of regular tomato sauce. That way you’ll get the perfect mixture.
- Use store-bought spaghetti sauce for this recipe.
- Simply use marinara sauce. It will be less filling than using spaghetti sauce, but you can pair it with some bread for a more nourishing dinner or serve it as a side dish. Use 1L of marinara sauce in this recipe.
Mozzarella to Use
We love using mozzarella balls to get that cheesy effect. Make sure to utilize one that melts. Or, you can use shredded mozzarella instead.
Freezer-Friendly
Let the eggplant parmigiana cool down completely. I like cutting it and freezing individual portions. It’s easier for when you want to have a quick dinner. You can easily freeze it for up to 3 months.
Italian Eggplant Parmigiana With Fresh Basil
6
servings20
minutes30
minutes1h30
This classic Italian Eggplant Parmigiana is the perfect Sunday dish to bake. It’s like eating lasagna, but with eggplants and some fresh basil. It’s so comforting and your house will smell amazing! This dish is also gluten-free.
Ingredients
Sauce : 1L of spaghetti sauce (homemade or store bought) combined with 500ml of tomato sauce or 1L of marinara sauce
3 large eggplants, sliced 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch thick
1 cup of parmesan cheese, shredded
1 bowl of mozzarella cheese (340g) or shredded mozzarella
1/3 cup of olive oil
Fresh basil : ⅓ cup roughly chopped
Instructions
- Slice the eggplants into 1/4 inch to 1/2-inch thick rounds. Lay the eggplant slices out on a rack over paper towels. Salt both sides of each eggplant slice. Let them rest for 30 minutes. Brush any salt excess with a paper towel.
- Cook the eggplants. Preheat the oven at 350 degrees C. On baking pans, lay the eggplant slices. Add a good amount of olive oil into the eggplant slices. Cook for 45 minutes, turning them halfway through.
- Grease a 13 × 9 inch baking pan with a non-stick cooking spray. Assemble the eggplant parmigiana. Add ¼ of the sauce in the bottom of the pan. We will make 3 different layers. First, lay down 12 eggplant slices. Add sauce and spread it evenly. Add 1/2 of parmesan cheese. Add some basil. Repeat 3 times and finish with mozzarella cheese. Keep the basil for the final layer aside so that you can sprinkle some basil on the eggplant parmigiana after cooking.
- Cook for 30 minutes with aluminum paper. Remove and cook for 10 more minutes. You can also broil it at the end to get that cheese colour.
- Let it cool down for a couple of minutes before serving.
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