EGGPLANT PARMESAN
I warn you, that this is a labor of love. BUT omg it is SO GOOD. I have mastered how to make it in parts so it is less time consuming. There are also a lot of different places where you can do quicker alternatives (I have noted below) instead that would also you save you some time.
THE HOMEMADE SAUCE
(you could save yourself some time and use store bought sauce)
¼ cup olive oil
1 head of garlic cloves (crushed)
1 large white onion (chopped)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 28-ounce cans whole peeled tomatoes
¼ cup torn basil leaves
lots of salt / pepper / red pepper flakes (taste as you go)
EGGPLANT ASSEMBLY
4 eggplants
1 box of panko breadcrumbs
6 eggs
2 cups finely grated Parmesan
2 cups all-purpose flour
EVERYTHING ELSE
Peanut oil for frying and olive oil for baking
2 bags of shredded mozz
1 ball of fresh mozz
MAKING SAUCE
(you can make this a few days ahead if you are staggering the timing that goes into this)
Starting with the garlic and olive oil, sauté in a deep pot or dutch oven. Add onions and cook for about 5 minutes. Stir in tomato paste until evenly coated and then add in white wine and let it cook of a good amount (about 6 minutes). Add in the whole tomatoes and break up with scissors or your hands (careful I somehow ALWAYS get tomato sauce everywhere). Add in the chopped basil and a bunch of red pepper, salt and pepper. Keep on a low simmer for about 3 hours, checking every so often. Sauce is actually super easy to make, it just takes awhile for everything to come together. After tasting sauce and it is the right amount of spicy and the flavors taste good, you might find your sauce a little chunky. I personally don’t mind chunky sauce, but if you do, you can use an immersion blender or regular blender to mix further.
MAKING EGGPLANT ASSEMBLY
Peel your eggplants and slide thinly. Layer slides in between pieces of paper towel and stack with a paper towel sheet between each layer. Once you have done all the eggplant (you should have a lot of layers), put something heavy on top and let sit for about an hour. Eggplants have tons of water in them and doing this helps let it get crispier. I would not recommend skipping this step.
When eggplant is done, you can start assembling your eggplant.
Your assembly stations:
1. Put flour in a bowl
2. Whisk the eggs in a bowl
3. Combine breadcrumbs, grated parm, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes
Starting with flour, coat each piece of eggplant, followed by eggs, and then breadcrumbs. Repeat with all eggplant. If you run out of one of your ingredients, add more accordingly. One thing to note is to make sure you let some of the egg come off the eggplant before moving over to the breadcrumbs.
FRY VERSUS BAKE
If you are trying to save some time and be a little healthier, you can simply bake eggplant on 350 on a sheet pan with olive oil for 20 min. Frying is absolutely delish but takes a long time. If you do decide to fry, put about 2/3 cup peanut oil in a pan and add pieces of your breaded eggplant a few at a time. Flip and do about 2.5 min per side. It helps to do 2 pans at a time.
One thing to note: I have tried both peanut old and olive oil and found that olive oil was a way more smoky oil and also a more expensive endeavor. Peanut oil was definitely better.
FINAL ASSEMBLY & BAKE
Now is the time to put this whole thing together! In a casserole dish, put about 1/2 cup of sauce on the bottom. Next, add baked or friend eggplant next in an even layer. Top with more sauce (whatever is enough to evenly coat on top). Then add shredded mozz on top of that. Repeat until you run out of layers. Make sure to be a little conservative with your sauce at the beginning so you save enough throughout. Make sure the last later at the top is cheese. Cover with foil and bake for 45-60 min on 350. Then, remove foil and add sliced of the fresh mozz on top and increase oven temp to 425 for another 15 min or whenever the cheese bubbles.
ANDDDD 1 day later, you’re done! Yes it takes forever but I will say this is SOOO GOOD. And serves a lot of meals. I hope you give it a try,