Baked Eggplant Parmesan - Vegetarian

 

Eggplant Parmesan is one of the classic Italian dishes that I was introduced to, through a friend of mine a few years ago. It was absolutely delicious when I first tried it and soon became one of my favorite dishes to order in a restaurant until I found out that it is really not completely vegetarian. This classic Italian dish uses egg as one of the basic ingredient and most restaurants' menu never has it listed. Sadly I quit ordering it, however sometimes I would crave for that authentic Eggplant Parmesan. Hence, inspired by the original classic dish, I decided to give this dish a try to see if I can make the eggless version of it. Though this was not the only reason for me to create this recipe. Eggplant is my husband's all time favorite vegetable and I wanted to make sure we can both enjoy our favorite Italian dish without having to worry about its ingredients.

To my surprise, I ended up making a pretty darn good Eggplant Parmesan recipe that is neither fried nor has eggs. The main challenge is to perfect the breadcrumb parmesan mixture and to make sure that the eggplants are cooked to perfection. This recipe covers both these aspects to get the best and most delicious Eggplant Parmesan. The breaded eggplant slices are coated with breadcrumb parmesan mixture and baked till perfectly tender then served with layers of marinara sauce and cheese. You can make this recipe for a date night or for celebration dinner or just to please your guests. Serve it complemented with the marinara sauce spaghetti or avocado pesto sauce spaghetti. My family just loves this dish every time I make it.

So let's get started with some important tips and notes to keep in mind before we dive into the recipe.

Important Tips/ Notes

• Eggplant Parmesan is much like lasagna but without all the extra carbs from pasta. Try using the smaller eggplants that are ripe and have shiny skin. The smaller eggplants have less seeds and are less bitter. 
• I have used store bought marinara sauce for this recipe to save time. But if you are feeling the pump to make fresh marinara then go for it. It will add 30-35 minutes but you will get an even better taste out of it.
• Traditionally the breaded eggplant slices are fried first and then layered with marinara sauce and cheese to bake for few minutes. I have completely eliminated frying, and instead baked them with drizzle of olive oil to save ourselves from the unhealthy fats and calories. 
• I have retained the skin of eggplant but if you like, feel free to peel the skin before you slice it. This will reduce cooking time a little bit so just keep check on your eggplant slices to avoid overcooking.
• I have used garlic salt for the recipe. If you don't have it handy just use garlic powder or minced garlic and salt. 
• I have used Panko bread crumbs for the recipe as they turn out extra crispy but any traditional breadcrumbs would also work.
• I have used lesser quantity of cheese as we are not big on it. Feel free to add more cheese if you like your Eggplant Parmesan to be covered in cheese. 
• Last but not the least, vegetarian cheese is an essential ingredient of this recipe. A lot of cheese brands use enzymes from animal rennet to prepare cheese, so look for vegetarian rennet or microbial rennet on the ingredients label of the cheese should you prefer to keep this recipe vegetarian.

Alright, so here is the video for the recipe, followed by detailed step by step recipe -

Baked Eggplant Parmesan Recipe 

Prep time - 45 minutes

Cook time - 35-40 minutes

Yield - Serves 5

Ingredients

2 Medium Eggplant

1 Cup Breadcrumbs

1/2 Cup Parmesan cheese (grated)

2 Tsp Black pepper powder

1 Tbsp Oregano

1 Tsp Dried basil

Handful of freshly chopped basil (optional)

1/2 Tsp Garlic salt

1 Cup All purpose flour

2 1/2 Cups Marinara sauce

1 Cup Shredded cheese (mozzarella or four cheese mix)

Water to make the batter

Olive oil to drizzle

 

Instructions

Begin with preparing Eggplant for baking. Slice the eggplants into 1/4" thick rounds and lay them on a cooling rack or a tray. Sprinkle the slices with salt and let them sweat for 15 minutes to release the moisture. 

While eggplant slices are resting, let's prepare the breadcrumb mixture. Combine breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, black pepper powder, oregano, basil (both fresh and dried) and garlic salt in a shallow mixing bowl.

Preheat the oven at 425F before we move further with the recipe.

Now prepare the dipping batter in another mixing bowl by combining dry all purpose flour and water. The consistency of the dipping batter should be rather runny than thick.

Further, pat dry eggplant slices to absorb the extra moisture gathered on top. 

Line the baking tray with foil and brush some oil on it to avoid sticking to the bottom of the slices.

Now, prepare your assembly line of eggplant slices, batter, breadcrumb mixture and baking tray in the same order. Take one slice, dip it in the batter and generously coat it in the breadcrumb mixture. Line each breaded eggplant slice in the baking tray and drizzle some olive oil over it. Please ensure to follow this step while using my video recipe as it is important to bake the slices perfectly.

Place the baking tray in oven and bake the breaded eggplant slices at 425F for 25 minutes or until the breading starts turning golden brown. Turn over the slices midway through the baking after approximately 12 minutes. 

Remove the baked eggplant slices from oven and place it on a cooling rack. 

Take another oven-safe pan or tray and spread marinara sauce at the bottom. In order to make a 3 tier tower of eggplant parmesan, place the first layer of the slices (the large ones) over the sauce. Now spread some marinara sauce and shredded cheese on top of the laid out breaded slices. Repeat this step while you stack the next two layers of breaded eggplant slices over this bottom layer as shown in the video above. I was short on shredded cheese so ended up topping the final layer with some cheese slice cuttings.

Bake these towers of Eggplant Parmesan in the oven at 350F for 15 minutes. 

Remove from the oven and let them rest for 5 minutes before serving. 

Serve these no-egg and no-fry Baked Eggplant Parmesan with your choice of spaghetti with red or green sauce. You can also garnish it with fresh basil or red chili flakes if you like is spicy.