So *That’s* What Eggplant is For!
Eggplant Parmesan
Hot or Cold, this Dish is a Crowd Pleaser
Eggplant, the fruit of a plant in the nightshade family, is something that is a mystery to a lot of people. When I was younger, I used to be drawn to it for its uniqueness, but never knew what to do with it. It is a beautiful thing, and comes in a variety of shapes and sizes. I had never eaten it until I met my wife, who was raised in a pretty traditional Italian household. Eggplant is one of those things that can be intimidating, but once you learn what to do with it, it will become a regular part of your meal rotation.
My wife’s favorite dish is Eggplant Parmesan. In concept, it is really super easy to make. As for the mess factor, it is a bit messy, and there is a bit of cleanup associated with it, but it is worth the trouble. It does not really require much in terms of specialized equipment. A large baking dish or lasagna pan and a skillet are about all you really need.
Start with the pasta sauce. The base for this dish is red pasta sauce. I make all my pasta sauces myself, so I just customize the sauce for its intended purpose. For a baked eggplant dish, I prefer a sauce that is not greasy and does not have a lot of overpowering flavors that will compete with the subtle flavor of the eggplant. A basic red sauce, possibly with mushrooms, is usually best. It does not matter whether the sauce is cold or hot, as the whole thing gets baked anyway.
Next, assemble the other ingredients. You will need eggs, flour, Italian bread crumbs and light olive oil. You will also need a couple of balls of mozzarella. Oh, and eggplant. Very important ingredient in Eggplant Parmesan. I use one large or two medium eggplants. I set up the prep surface by laying down parchment paper or paper towels over the whole work surface. This will make cleanup a snap. Pro tip: if the lining you place on the counter is skidding around, tape down the corners with a little masking tape, or even better, blue painter’s tape. This will secure the liner, but leave it easy to pick up and not leave adhesive residue on your counter top.
Put a cup or so of flour on a plate, a couple cups of bread crumbs in a medium bowl, and about four beaten eggs in a small bowl. Have extra eggs, flour and bread crumbs on hand. You may need to replenish your prep containers. Also, the bread crumbs will start to clump as you work, so you will need to dump out the clumpy ones and replace with dry crumbs once or twice. Shred the cheese and place it in a bowl for easy access.
Preparing the eggplant itself is the most time consuming part of this dish. Start by peeling and slicing the eggplant. Remove the heavy leaves and cut off the stem end, then peel the eggplant with a vegetable peeler. Eggplant has a thick, waxy skin that peels really easily.
Once peeled, the eggplant will immediately start turning brown. This is not rot, it’s oxidation, the same thing that makes apples turn brown when sliced. For apples, incidentally, you can prevent oxidation by immersing the cut apple in water until it is time to use. For eggplant, I don’t worry about it. By the time it is breaded and fried, a little oxidation will not even get noticed.
Once the eggplant is peeled, slice it. There is no need to core eggplant. Slices should not be too thin or too thick. I usually slice it crosswise to between an eighth and a quarter of an inch. Once the eggplant is sliced, it needs to be breaded. For this, I recommend wearing thin disposable rubber gloves. I like the powder-free medical gloves. As you work, the breading will build up on your hands, and it sticks like glue. It likes to adhere to fingernails, and is a pain to wash off. Do yourself a favor and use disposable gloves. A useful kitchen tip: keep one hand clean for flipping the cooked eggplant. You can bread with one hand, and use the clean hand to do other things. This will help contain the mess.
For each slice of eggplant, coat the eggplant first in flour, then eggs, then bread crumbs. Set the coated slices aside. At this point, you can save time by beginning to cook the eggplant while still breading the sliced fruit. Into a skillet, pour some olive oil. Don’t skimp on the oil. I get it about a quarter inch deep in the skillet. On an electric stove, I set the heat to medium. The oil does not need to boil, it just needs to be hot enough to brown the sliced eggplant. You will need to have plenty of oil, as the eggplant will take up oil as it cooks. I just keep an eye on the oil level in the pan, and replenish as needed.
When you have enough slices breaded to cover the bottom of the skillet, start cooking. Lay the slices in the hot oil in a single layer. While the first batch of eggplant is cooking, you can resume breading the remaining eggplant. Don’t forget that you have stuff cooking, however. When the first side is browned, flip each slice using tongs, then resume breading. When the second side is browned, remove the cooked eggplant to some absorbent material to drain. I use a couple layers of paper towels for the base, and have a sheet of paper toweling between successive layers as you cook. There will be a lot of cooked eggplant by the time you are done. Enough to sneak yourself a slice or two. Or three. Cook’s privilege.
While you are cooking, you may need to stop long enough to clean out your skillet. Olive oil can be smoky anyway, and as you cook, bits of bread crumbs will accumulate in the skillet. The material in the skillet can start to resemble a smoky sludge. At this point, I just dump it out, wipe out the skillet with a wad of paper towels and put fresh oil in the pan. There is a lot of smoke generated when frying eggplant, so make sure your range fan is running. I open the windows too.
As you develop a rhythm of cooking, you will be breading raw eggplant at about the same rate as you are cooking it in the skillet. By the time you finish breading the raw eggplant slices, you will be almost done cooking, and may be able to practice a bit of clean-as-you-go. I am very big on cleaning as I go. It really helps at the back end of a cooking project, so you don’t have a horrendous mess to deal with. Given the mess generated with this dish, I make liberal use of paper toweling and disposable plates. Anything to keep the cleanup to a minimum. You will need space to assemble the casserole in any case, so it really helps to have as much cleaned up as possible by the time the last batch of eggplant is done cooking.
Once all the eggplant is cooked, it is time to start assembling the casserole. By this point, you are done with the hard part. Start the oven preheating at around 325°F. Take the baking dish and spoon a thin layer of pasta sauce across the bottom of the pan. Coat the pan, but it does not have to be thick. This is just so the eggplant doesn’t stick when cooked.
Start layering in your ingredients. Cover the bottom of the pan with fried eggplant slices. Spoon pasta sauce over all the eggplant. Scatter a handful or two of mozzarella across the top. Another layer of eggplant, sauce, and cheese, and continue layering like that until you run out of eggplant. Cover the top layer of eggplant with the remaining sauce, and top that with a generous amount of cheese. I put a lot of cheese on the top. That helps seal the eggplant so it doesn’t dry out when baked.
Your eggplant casserole is now ready to go in the oven. How long you cook it depends on whether you started with hot or cold pasta sauce. You want all the cheese in the casserole to be melted. When I start with hot pasta sauce, maybe 30 minutes bake time is enough, just to get some brown color on the cheese top. If you are starting with cold sauce, maybe 40–45 minutes bake time, and check to make sure the cheese isn’t burning. You can test the temperature in the center by piercing it with a table knife and checking whether the blade is hot. If it comes out cold, keep baking.
When the casserole is cooked, bring it out of the oven and let it sit on the counter for a few minutes, enough to let the liquefied cheese set. Cut it into individual portions and serve. The hot eggplant casserole is delicious, but where this dish really shines is the next day, when the leftover casserole has had time to chill in the refrigerator. Served cold, this dish is amazing, and it also works very well served on sliced sourdough bread as sandwiches.
Baked eggplant is versatile, easy and cheap to prepare, vegetarian-friendly, and works equally well hot or cold. Enjoy!
