Eggplant Parmesan

By Nancy Jo, posted 11 months ago

Photo: Sarah Shatz

Amanda & Merrill's Notes:

All of the cooking here is centered around getting the eggplant and tomatoes to the right texture so that when you fuse them, neither the sauce is watery nor the eggplant soggy. Nancy Jo accomplishes this by baking slabs of flour-dusted eggplant in the oven with just a trace of oil. They come out as stiff as cards. And the tomatoes are cooked down in the pan until pulpy. When the two meet in a baking dish, the eggplant soaks up some tomato juices but retains its own character so you get distinct layers. And Nancy Jo adds the mozzarella as a center layer, so you get the warm melted cheese right in the belly of the dish. Use fresh mozzarella, which is creamy and even a little sweet. - A&M

This is my Nonna's recipe and most of the ingredients came from her beloved garden. She used to fry the eggplant in egg and flour, but I only use flour and fry them on baking sheets in a hot oven. I always thought the egg batter soaked up too much of the sauce. My version makes it lighter and creamier and you use a lot less oil.

Serves 6

Eggplant:

3 pounds eggplant (Choose the large variety. Make sure they are firm and smooth. Also, choose male eggplants. They have fewer seeds and have a rounder, smoother bottom)
1 cup flour
salt
generous amounts of olive oil
1 cup grated parmigiano-reggiano
1/2 pound buffalo-milk mozzarella (if the balls are small, get two)

Sauce:

2 28 ounces cans of San Marzano (any brand is fine) canned whole peeled tomatoes (add another can if you want extra sauce left over)
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
enough olive oil to cover the pan

Peel the eggplant and slice long ways into 1/4 inch slices.
Sprinkle each layer with salt and place into a colander, overlapping and salting as you go. Each slice should be salted. After you fill the colander, place a plate on top and weight it with a heavy pan or a tea kettle filled with water. Let the eggplant sweat for 30 minutes or more.
While the eggplant sweats, make the sauce.
Cover the bottom of a sauce pan with olive oil and heat over medium high heat. Add the sliced garlic and let it cook until is sizzles (do not brown the garlic). Add the canned whole tomatoes and their juice and salt. Stir and chop coarsely using a potato masher or two knives chopping crossways. Lower the heat and simmer until reduced by almost half.
Remove the eggplant fro the colander and thoroughly pat dry each slice.
Heat the oven to 450 degrees. Cover the bottom of a baking sheet or two with olive oil.
Dredge the eggplant slices in flour, shaking off any excess. Place on the baking sheets and drizzle the each slice with olive oil. Bake until brown on one side (about 15 minutes or so) and tun over and brown the other side. Repeat until you have cooked all the eggplant.
Using a 7x11 baking dish (I like ceramic or earthenware, but you can use stainless steel as well), spread a thin layer of sauce on the bottom and layer the eggplant until it completely covers the bottom (it's like a puzzle!).
Sprinkle generously with the grated parmigiano-reggiano. Add another layer of sauce and then the eggplant. Continue to build the layers until you are about two layers from the top, then add a single layer of sliced mozzarella. Finish with a couple more layers of eggplant, sauce, and parmesan. Finish the top with parmesan.
Bake on the upper third of a 400 degree oven. Check it after it' been in the oven for 20 minutes. You may find that it throws off more liquid as it bakes. If so, press down on the eggplant and draw off any excess liquid. Cook for another 15 minutes or so. Let stand for a good 15 or 20 minutes before serving.

Comments (17)Add yours

clbeth 10 days ago: Hands down the best eggplant parmesan I have ever had!
minami_nyc 5 months ago: I made this recipe today and it was INCREDIBLE. I have been searching for a melanzane alla parmigiana recipe since eating it in Rome and falling in love. Recipes I'd found on the internet pan-fried the eggplant slices, which was way too labor intensive to attempt too often. Baking the slices made the eggplant prep part far less exhausting for home-cooking, and also less greasy! Wonderful wonderful. I took Maria Teresa's suggestion of soaking the eggplant slices in water (I added salt to the water), and let the slices submerge for an hour (I put a plastic lid and weighed it with a kettle). It worked out great. I added basil to the layers and also sprinkled the top layer very lightly with panko for crunch.
monkeymom 5 months ago: We made this over the weekend and it was delicious along side some pan fried italian sausage. It seemed so much lighter than versions with breaded eggplant, but still very substantial. I'm looking forward to leftovers in my lunch box today too! Thanks for sharing this recipe.
C_lynn 6 months ago: I made this tonight and both my boyfriend and I loved it. I thought that pre-baking the eggplant slices was brilliant instead of frying each slice individually and the cheese in the center was such a good idea. He loved it because the eggplant was devoid of bitterness and it was entirely moist and delicious.
SandyBon 9 months ago: I made this recipe a few weekends ago using my first ever crop of organic eggplants. The one layer of cheese was perfect and for the first time I served a wonderful eggplant parm which was not overwhelmed by oil or cheese! I will make it often thanks!!
SandyBon 9 months ago: I made this recipe a few weekends ago using my first ever crop of organic eggplants. The one layer of cheese was perfect and for the first time I served a wonderful eggplant parm which was not overwhelmed by oil or cheese! I will make it often thanks!!
sarahmina 9 months ago: i've been looking at this recipe for a while now. tonight i found myself with a free evening and decided to try it out. everything should have been a disaster: i didn't have enough eggplant, i used tinfoil to make "baking sheets" the only mozzarella i had was the processed part-skim kind, i had non-fancy crushed tomatoes, and i burnt some of my eggplant (I didn't read the part about how it browns on the bottom first...oops). In the end, though, none of this matters. it was amazing! equal to the best eggplant parmesan i ever had in a place in brooklyn that i've never been able to find again. next time, i will either use real mozzarella or none at all (it would still be amazing). this is a dish which i know will become part of my regular rotation. it is that good and that simple. THANK YOU!
newbiecook 9 months ago: delicious recipe. i found that the buffalo mozz stayed somewhat tougher than the rest of the layers. especially in reheat scenario. maybe subbing fresh mozz the editor suggested would do the trick?
shawsh123 9 months ago: IT LOOKS DIVINE! MY MOUTH IS WATERING.....
keith in Mar Vista 10 months ago: Nancy, what does one need to know to pick male eggplants? it seems that a website devoted to perfecting a recipe would be more precise and seek to define terms or issues that are not self-evident. can't wait to have the answer!
alisafoodista 10 months ago: Hi Nancy, Just wanted to thank you for your delicious Eggplant parmesan recipe. I made it and loved it! I wish I had made more the first time because even my picky eaters at home couldn't get enough of it! I found your recipe through a post in facebook and Im glad I did! If you have time, I hope you could also drop by our place at http://www.foodista.com Thanks!
Maria Teresa Jorge 10 months ago: Your recipe is very similar to the one we make in Italy, I will give your version a try. Just as a side note, I put the sliced eggplant in cold water for 1 hour and all the bitterness comes out (you can see the water purple and it tastes bitter). Then I dry the eggplant in kitchen towels pressing well, I find it a better option then salting them because they remain dry and no bitter aftertaste. Maria Teresa jorge - Italy
Jennifer Perillo 10 months ago: I made this last night using your technique and it was wonderful. The eggplant was indeed crispy and I loved the hidden surprise of fresh mozzarella in the center. A nice lesson in moderation compared to other eggplant parms.
337greenwich 10 months ago: this looks delicious!
Mandy 10 months ago: WOW!!! How delish! Made it for dinner this evening, with pasta. The kids 12,8 and 4 LOVED it! The mozzarella in the middle was soft and soooo yummy! It was our first crisp fall day...perfect ending!
KelseyTheNaptimeChef 10 months ago: Eggplant Parmesan is one of our favorite winter dishes, I look forward to trying this version.
Jennifer Perillo 10 months ago: Love the idea of putting the mozzarella in the center layer only. I'll have to remember that for next time.

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Eggplant Parmesan

Amanda & Merrill's Notes:

Serves 6

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