Eggplant Parmesan
Eggplant parmesan is a crowd favorite but also a labor of love, with a whole lot of slicing and chopping involved. A good knife is essential when making this dish, from getting the perfect sized cuts for the eggplant and mozzarella to finely chopping the onions. Do yourself a favor and invest in a good quality knife like the ones I used from Wusthof. They’ll make cooking easier and way more enjoyable.
What you’ll need!
For the eggplant parmesan;
3 large eggplants
1 ball of mozzarella
2 cups ricotta cheese
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
basil
For the tomato sauce;
28 oz crushed tomatoes
3 oz tomato paste
6 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion
6 garlic cloves
1 tbsp dried oregano
3 bay leaves
4 tbsp salt
1 tbsp chili flakes
THEN;
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2.for sauce, finely chop onion and press garlic
3. In a medium saucepan, coat with
4 tbsp olive oil and add chopped onion. Once onion is soft, stir in garlic, tomato paste and a few dashes of dried oregano. Let mixture simmer and brown before adding tomatoes.
4. Add in crushed tomatoes, bay leaves,
salt, chili flakes and 2 tbsp olive oil to saucepan. Bring to low heat and let it simmer for 45 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.
5. Cut the eggplant vertically into ½ inch
slices and place flat onto an olive oil greased baking sheet. Brush both sides of eggplant with olive oil and place in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes, until the eggplant starts to get firm and slightly brown.
6. Slice mozzarella and grate parmesan cheese, set aside for later.
7. Remove eggplant from oven. Coat bottom of baking dish with sauce and add slices of eggplant to bottom of a baking dish. Add more tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese, ricotta and basil on top of the slices. Continue layering the eggplant until the baking dish is full and add one more layer of sauce, mozzarella cheese, and parmesan cheese.
8. Place the baking dish in the oven for 30 minutes at 375 degrees.
9. Remove when the top is slightly brown and the edges are crisp. Let it for an hour and garnish with more parmesan cheese and fresh basil.
Watch the full recipe video here!