Such a wonderful comfort food that is easy to make and full of flavour
Eggplant Parmigiana
Baked Eggplant Parmigiana Recipe
Ashley’s Place
6
15 minutes
50 minutes
Mediterranean
Dinner
This is one of my favourite dinner recipes, serve it with some crispy potatoes, some fresh salad and you have the perfect delicious and comforting dinner. I always bake my eggplant instead of frying it, I find it cooks up beautifully and is a bit less oily than cooking in the pan.
Ingredients
Sauce Ingredients
- 1 bottle of 700g passata
- 3-4 garlic cloves crushed
- 1 tsp of Italian herbs
- 2-3 sprigs of rosemary
- A few basil leaves
- 1/2 lemon
- ½ Tsp of Olive oil for sauce
- Salt & pepper to taste
Eggplant Ingredients
- 4-5 eggplants 5 if small 4 if medium, if super large 3
- ½ Tsp Onion Powder
- ½ Tsp Garlic Powder
- 1-2 Tsp Italian Herbs
- Olive Oil Spray or 2-3 tsp of Olive Oil
- 400g Mozzarella grated for top of assembled dish
Directions
Preheat your oven to 180c & prep a large tray or a couple of smaller trays with baking paper or silicone liners
Slice your eggplants into slices a few mm wide so not too thin but not too thick. Coat with a couple of tsp’s of Olive Oil, I find the spray easier if you have it but if not you can also use a pastry brush to coat them, add your onion powder, garlic powder & Italian Herbs sprinkled over.
Bake for about 20-25 mins until they start to brown, you want a golden colour not burnt so depending on the size you might need less time and if you find one side of your pan it browning more turn the pan around and if you have 2 pans you can move the top to the bottom and the bottom up. You can also take some out if they are browning too quickly
Pre-heat your pan to a medium heat (not too high). Add your crushed garlic with about ½ tsp of olive oil (we don’t need a lot) to brown off lightly and then add your passata, Italian Herbs, lemon & a good dash of salt and pepper and simmer on low for about 20-25 mins for the sauce to reduce and thicken. Stirring occasionally to make sure it isn’t sticking. Add the basil leaves in about 5 minutes before its finished, mix and continue cooking for another 5 mins
Get a oven safe baking pan ready to go, you don’t need to line it with baking paper.
Add a thin spread of sauce to the bottom of your baking dish, then a layer of eggplants, close together, you can cut them if needed, add about 1/4 of the sauce, then a thin layer of grated mozzarella (I add most of mine on the top layer) and repeat
Add remaining sauce & then cheese on the top layer and bake away for approx. 25mins at 180c until your cheese is all melted and golden on top. If your cheese is browning way too quickly you can add a layer of foil on top as well.