there are a million eggplant parmesan recipes in the world. and at the basic level, they aren’t all that different.

when making this dish, i realized that i use significantly more mozzarella than parmesan, so i’m renaming it to be more appropriately descriptive.

eggplant mozzarella (f.k.a. eggplant parmesan) | things i made today

my inspiration for a new eggplant moz/parm recipe came from the amateur gourmet. he made one really smart observation – why are all eggplant parmesan recipes so focused on the cheese and not the eggplant? why cut it up into thin slices and make it lose all it’s delicious eggplanty-ness? for that, i thank him, because he is right. the key to this recipe is nice, thick pieces of eggplant with a hint of the other ingredients. okay, so there is a decent amount of cheese in this, but still.

eggplant mozzarella (f.k.a. eggplant parmesan) | things i made today

this makes 4 servings. but, i’m not going to lie, i ate half of this my myself while watching the biggest loser. i don’t know what that says about me.

Eggplant Mozzarella
Recipe type: Main Dish
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • Olive oil
  • 2 medium eggplants, sliced into ½ inch rounds
  • Kosher salt
  • 1 red onion, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 1 carrot, chopped
  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped
  • 2 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 28 ounce can peeled, whole tomatoes
  • handful fresh basil leaves, chopped
  • 8 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced into rounds or chopped into large chunks
  • ¼ cup Parmesan, grated
  • ½ cup Panko bread crumbs
Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 450F.
  2. Arrange eggplant slices in a medium sized baking dish. Drizzle generously with olive oil and Kosher salt. Bake for 30 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium high heat. Add onion and cook until translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir in garlic, carrot, and thyme and cook for an additional minute. Add tomato paste and stir to combine. Pour in canned tomatoes (with their juice) and use a wooden spoon to break up the tomatoes. Reduce heat to low and cover, season with salt and pepper. Cook for 25-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
  4. When the eggplant is done, transfer half of the eggplant slices to a plate. Arrange the remaining eggplant in a single layer in the baking dish. Top with ½ the tomato sauce, the mozzarella slices, and basil. Arrange the remaining eggplant on top and spread the second ½ of the tomato sauce on top. Sprinkle Parmesan and Panko crumbs on top, then bake for 15 minutes, until bread crumbs are browned and cheese is melted.

Recipe rephotographed April 2016.

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