Not Your Mama’s Eggplant Parm
Eggplant parmesan is one of those dishes that eats up time and leaves a mess in the kitchen because of pan frying the eggplant. We’ve come up with a sheet-pan recipe that speeds up the time, reduces all that grease spatter and tastes just as good.
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Ingredients
- 1 small eggplant (just over 1 lb)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour of your choice
- 3 cups whole-grain breadcrumbs (leave out the seasoning if using pre-seasoned crumbs)
- 2 tsp. Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. pepper
- 3 eggs
- ½ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cups prepared marinara sauce
- 8 oz. small mozzarella balls
- ½ cup grated parmesan
- Fresh basil for garnis
Preparation
1. Grease a 9X13 quarter sheet pan with sides. Preheat oven to 450 F degrees.
2. Thinly slice eggplant (about 1/3 to ½ inch), place on paper towel. Salt both sides and let sit for 10 minutes. Shake off the salt and blot dry.
3. Place flour, breadcrumbs and eggs in 3 shallow dishes. Beat the eggs well. Stir in Italian seasoning, salt and pepper to breadcrumbs.
4. Dredge eggplant in flour (shake off the excess), then the egg and finally the breadcrumbs. Press the crumbs into the eggplant.
5. Place eggplant slices on the greased sheet pan. Repeat with all the eggplant. You may need to overlap the edges of the eggplant to line it up in rows. The pan should hold about 4 rows across the width of the pan.
6. Brush the tops of slices with the olive oil. Bake for 10-15 minutes until browned.
7. Remove from oven, turn them over and brush the other side with oil. Bake for another 10-15 minutes until browned.
8. Pour sauce over eggplant and spread evenly. Top with mozzarella and parmesan.
9. Bake for another 20 -25 minutes, until sauce is bubbly, and cheese is golden brown.
10. Garnish with basil and serve.