Tag Archives: fried eggplant

Eggplant Parmesan

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And then, there was Eggplant Parmesan.

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It’s actually pretty easy to make, especially when you have all the ingredients all ready and set to go:

  • Tomato sauce
  • Fried eggplant
  • Fresh Parmesan cheese, shredded
  • Fresh mozzarella cheese, shredded

Here are the basic steps:

Step 1

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If you’re like me and made fresh bread crumbs for the eggplant, the first step is, Clean out the oven.

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I mentioned earlier that I had already made Eggplant Parmesan about three times this year. I’ll mention now that two of those times, I started preheating the oven for the eggplant before I remembered to clean up the bread pieces. The smell of something burning, in these cases, provided a good reminder of this step.

Step 2

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The next step is getring the baking dishes ready. This means adding a small layer of tomato sauce to each dish. If you’re making individual Eggplant Parmesan pieces, this is particularly important so the areas around the pieces don’t burn.

Step 3

Now add all the ingredients, one after another, to form the Eggplant Parmesan pieces – the eggplant, tomato sauce, Parmesan cheese, and then the mozzarella cheese. The process for the layered version is basically the same – just repeat the same ingredient-steps to create however many layers you want. In terms of the cheese to be added, I shredded the Parmesan fine and the mozzarella regular-size.

Pictured below are the steps for the individual pieces:

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To the right in the pictures above is a second dish where I did the layered version. Three layers were a good fit for this standard 9″ x 13″ x 2″ glass baking dish and for the amount of eggplant I had prepared.

When making the layers, I packed the eggplant pieces a little more tightly so there weren’t many gaps. Then following in turn, I added enough tomato sauce to make the sauce uniform on top of that.

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Here: the tomato sauce on top of the eggplant while making the first layer

Then the cheeses are added, spread evenly on top of the sauce, and the layer’s done. Each of the three layers was the same: eggplant, tomato sauce, and then the Parmesan and mozzarella.

Step 4

With the Eggplant Parmesan pieces and/or layers now ready, preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and bake until the sauce starts to bubble and the cheese all melts together (and begins to crisp just slightly). This took me 25 minutes baking at 350 (and then 5 minutes more at 400 to get the desired crisp). Maybe better would have been 20 minutes at 375 – something to try next time.

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The individual pieces

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And the layered version

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Overall, I’d call it a satisfying culinary and creative week. My original plan was to do everything in a row – Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday – but with writing and other things, the cooking got more spread out:

Of course, you can also do everything on one day. It’s really only the two middle steps, the eggplant and the sauce, that take some time. There are also ways to make the sauce more quickly, like simmering it for less time (or using canned tomatoes instead of fresh).

If you try making it, let me know how it turns out. I bet it’ll be good. For me, eating some warm, freshly-made Eggplant Parmesan is a melts-in-your-mouth experience that often makes me think, and sometimes say out loud, Wow, this is good.

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Eggplant Parmesan, Part 2

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If you saw the Eggplant Parmesan, Part 1 post the other day, then you know my method for making fresh bread crumbs. You’ll also know from Part 1’s first picture that I had two eggplants set and ready to go for Part 2.  While this would be a perfectly good number to work with for this step – the prepping and cooking of the eggplant – I was thinking during the day yesterday, If two is good, why not three? So I stopped at a farm stand on the way home and got another one.

Before getting started last night, I also took an eggplant family portrait.

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You can tell they love each other.

And so then with the group shot taken, it was time to begin. Here are the basic steps and some notes.

Part 2: Fried eggplant

Step 1:

  • Peel and cut the eggplant into slices
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I’ve found that making them about 1/4″ thick works well

Step 2:

  • Sprinkle a little salt on the eggplant slices, and let them sit for an hour or so to draw out some moisture

I’ve seen a lot of recipes include this step (the sitting time varies), with the added suggestion of using a colander as an aid. I ended up doing it this time (I let the eggplant slices sit while I went to my class last night), but usually I just do the salt-sprinkle and move forward when I’m ready for the next step.

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It was a double-colander day

Step 3

  • Set up the assembly line for the breading – flour, eggs, bread crumbs.

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  • Then do the dipping – take each eggplant slice, and making sure to coat both sides, go from one bowl to the next.

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At this point, you could get all the eggplant slices coated and ready, or, if you’re like me and decide to go big and use three eggplants, you could start the frying and finish the rest of the assembly line at the same time.

In terms of the flour / egg / bread crumb quantities, the following amounts worked well for the three medium-large eggplants:

  • 1 cup flour (plus 1/2 tsp salt mixed in)
  • 5 eggs (mixed)
  • 4.5 cups bread crumbs (this was the total amount I used; in the bowl in the picture above, there are about 2 cups – I refilled it over time)

Step 4:  (Final step!)

  • Cook the breaded eggplant slices.

I’ve seen some recipes that suggest baking instead of frying, but so far I’ve only tried frying. Here are the steps:

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  • Heat 3/8 cup olive oil in a frying pan over medium heat. (On my gas stove, I turned the knob to 3 out of 6.)
  • Add a single layer of eggplant slices to the pan
  • Cook about 4-5 minutes per side, flipping once. (When the breading has gotten a little darker and has started to crisp up, and when the inside is partially cooked (you’ll know it’s partially cooked when you poke it with a fork or spatula and it still has some resistance but isn’t quite as firm as when you started), then it’s time to flip. After the flip, you’ll know it’s done when you poke it again and it’s no longer firm.)
  • When the slices are done, put them on a plate with a paper towel. As the plate gets full, add another paper towel, and then continue on with the layers on up.

The key to the frying step is getting the amount of oil and the temperature-setting right. I try to keep the olive oil base-layer consistent throughout, which means adding a little more oil as I go (I tend to add a little with each new batch or so of eggplant slices).

And that’s it and your done!

Congratulate yourself by eating a few of the fried eggplant slices, whether or not you’ve already had some along the way. So good. Just remember to save a few for making the Eggplant Parmesan later on. 

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Next up: making the tomato sauce.