Eggplant parm

Last year we signed up for a bi-weekly CSA ('community supported agriculture') box through the summer and we did it again here in 2023. This means that every other week we receive a large box of vegetables, mostly, directly from a local farm. It's not the cheapest produce but we know where it's coming from, how they treat and handle their crops and can support a family farm very close to us. All of this is good, but it is also always a challenge to preserve or use as much of it as possible. We don't pick what we're sent and don't get a lot of warning ahead of time so we suddenly we have this full box of food every other Wednesday and need to figure out what to do with it all. Prior to doing this there were certain vegetables we'd never used before, like eggplant.

My first attempt at using eggplant, last year, was an eggplant coconut curry and it was alright. Then I made eggplant parmesan. It was amazing and this summer I was actually looking forward to the CSA eggplant so I could make it again. It went fantastic a second time and now you're all going to get the recipe. Here's where I started.

What you need:

1 large eggplant (maybe like 10 inches long, 4 inches at widest point)

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs

1 1/2 cups marinara sauce

16 oz (1 lb) shredded mozzarela cheese

1/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese

Fresh basil/oregano

Breading process, yes you also need to crack/whisk the eggs

The original recipe, linked above, said to use 2 large eggplants but that would've been way too much, at least with the size eggplants we had. 1 was perfect. I decided to skip making the breadcrumbs myself, just buying Panko, but that's probably a way to take this above and beyond. For the marinara I used Rao's, something we've been buying frequently for an easy dinner or a quick sauce, like this. You can use more than 1 1/2 cups of sauce if you want. I actually replaced the parmesan with asiago cheese because that's what we already had, so in reality my eggplant parmesan didn't have any parm in it at all. Dried herbs would I'm sure work just fine if you don't have fresh.

Quick version:

Prep

1. Slice (thinly! 1/4 inch) eggplant, salt and leave out 10-15m to 'sweat' moisture, pat dry

2. Arrange three bowls, one each for flour, eggs, breadcrumbs

Baked method

3. Turn oven on to 350, cover a baking sheet with tin foil and lightly oil it

4. Bread eggplant slices: push both sides into flour, dunk into eggs, cover in breadcrumbs

5. Place prepared eggplant slices on baking sheet, bake for 20-25m until golden

Assembly

6. In 9x13 baking dish, spread a layer of marinara across bottom (maybe half of sauce)

7. Spread out breaded/baked eggplant, will be two layers

8. On top of each slice add generous mozz, spoonful of marinara, then sprinkling of parm

9. Add second later of eggpant, the cover again with mozz/marinara/parm

10. Cover whole thing with leftover cheese and marinara, if needed

Final bake

11. Turn oven up to 400 and bake 30m more, done when cheese melted and sauce bubbling

12. Drop some fresh herbs on top and serve the little stacks

Assembled and ready for the oven

First things first, this is putzy to make and takes some time, for me like 90 minutes. I'm glad I learned that last year.

It's really important to slice the eggplant thinly. Eggplant that's too thick and not cooked enough is rubbery and not at all appetizing.

I decided to bake the breaded eggplant instead of frying it, though that's an option as well. If you've never breaded anything before (or even made french toast) this is a pretty typical process, flour then eggs then whatever else you want to use. Doing this is messy and you'll want to have some paper towels to wipe your hands on and I was flicking the flour/egg/breadcrumb mixture from my hands into the sink repeatedly.

When laying it out I had 4 stacks, using the wide eggplant slices, along the two long sides of my baking dish and then fit three 3 stacks, using the smaller slices, using the gaps in between. I had gotten 21 slices total and this worked great. Only the middle of the small row was a single layer.

Done and ready for serving

We probably shouldn't be surprised that the yummiest way to eat something, say a big hearty vegetable, is to add breading and loads of cheese. But it's becoming a go-to and is honestly a lot like lasagna. Give it a try, or better yet come over when I make it next time.

Arrivederci!