Eggplant Parmesan
Fried eggplant, marinara, mozzarella and golden basil top.
Maui's an app that plans a whole week of dinners like this one. See how it works ↓
Salt and rest the eggplant rounds 30 min before breading - they'll bead with water. Pat them dry and they fry to crisp instead of greasy mush. This is the move that separates great eggplant parm from sad eggplant parm. And: rest the assembled casserole 15 min after baking. Sliced hot = sliding layers. Rested = clean squares.
Ingredients
Everything below makes 6 servings.
- 3 lbglobe eggplantssliced into 1/2-inch rounds
- 2 tbspkosher saltfor sweating the eggplant and seasoning
- 1 cupall-purpose flour
- 3large eggsbeaten with a splash of water
- 2 cupspanko breadcrumbs
- 1 cupolive oil (for frying)
- 28 ozcrushed tomatoes (San Marzano preferred)
- 4garlic clovesminced
- ¼ tspred pepper flake
- 1 lbfresh mozzarellatorn into rough pieces and patted dry
- 1 cupwhole-milk ricotta
- ¾ cupgrated parmesan
- ½ cupfresh basiltorn
- ½ tspfreshly ground black pepper
In the app these rescale to however many people you're feeding.
Nutrition
Per serving, as written.
- 660calories
- 27gprotein
- 46gcarbs
- 42gfat
Swaps move these numbers. A different protein or base changes them.
Instructions
Knife work first, then the stove. Nothing below asks you to chop while something burns.
- Slice eggplants into 1/2-inch rounds. Lay on a wire rack over a sheet pan. Salt both sides generously with 1 tbsp salt. Rest 30 min - they'll bead with water. Pat very dry with paper towels.
- Set up a breading station: bowl 1 flour and 1/2 tsp salt; bowl 2 beaten eggs; bowl 3 panko and ¼ cup parmesan.
- Simmer the sauce: warm ⅛ cup olive oil in a saucepan, soften garlic 30 sec, add crushed tomatoes and red pepper flake and 1/2 tsp salt. Simmer 15 min while you fry. Stir in ¼ cup basil at the end.
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Tear mozzarella. Have ricotta and remaining parm ready by the baking dish.
Bread
Working in batches, dredge each eggplant round in flour (tap off excess), then egg (let excess drip), then panko-parm (press to coat). Lay coated rounds on a clean wire rack.
12 min · hands onFry in batches
Heat olive oil in the skillet over medium until shimmering. Fry rounds in 3-4 batches, 2-3 min per side, until deep golden. Drain on a fresh wire rack. Top off the oil between batches as needed - keep a steady shimmer, not smoking.
30 min · hands onLayer
Spread 1 cup sauce in the 9x13 dish. Layer 1: 1/3 of the eggplant, dollops of half the ricotta, 1/3 of the mozz, 1 cup sauce, scatter of basil and parm. Layer 2: same. Layer 3: eggplant, remaining mozz, last 1 cup sauce, the rest of the parm and black pepper.
5 min · hands onBake
Bake at 400°F for 30-35 min until the top is browned and the sauce bubbles around the edges. If the top browns too fast, tent loosely with foil for the last 10 min.
33 min · hands offRest
Let the casserole rest 15 min before cutting. This is non-negotiable - cut hot and the layers slide. Rested, you get clean squares. Scatter the rest of the basil over the top.
15 min · hands offMake it yours
Every swap here is one Maui already knows how to make, including what it does to the timing.
Crisp 1 lb chicken sausage, crumble between eggplant layers - adds halal-clean protein. Adds about 10 minutes.
Brush a split baguette with garlic-olive-oil, toast last 10 min the casserole bakes. Adds about 5 minutes.
Toss arugula and lemon and olive oil while casserole rests. Adds about 5 minutes.
Cook 1 cup quick polenta in 4 cups water and parm - serve spoon of casserole over. Adds about 25 minutes.
What keeps
Salt eggplant 30 min ahead. Frying 3 batches takes 45+ min.
Best Sunday cook - casserole reheats beautifully Mon/Tue/Wed at 350°F covered with foil, 20 min. The layers actually set deeper overnight - most cooks like it more on day 2.
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