Eggplant Parmesan Recipe

Eggplant Parmesan Recipe

Our Eggplant Parmesan recipe will deliver a great tasting dish, but it does take time make. There are multiple steps involved as you make both the marinara as well as prep the eggplant. If you have time, it’s a great tasting recipe!

This recipe is property of GreatChefRecipes.com

Ingredients:
Marinara
1/4 cup olive oil
1 head of garlic, cloves crushed
1 large red onion, chopped
4 oil-packed anchovy fillets
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 28-ounce cans whole peeled tomatoes
1/4 cup torn basil leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
Kosher salt

Eggplant
4 medium-sized eggplants, peeled, sliced lengthwise 1/2″ thick
Kosher salt
3 cups panko (Japanese breadcrumbs)
1.5 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1.5 cups finely grated Parmesan, divided
1.5 cups all-purpose flour
5 large eggs, beaten
2/3 cups vegetable oil
1/2 cup finely chopped basil and parsley, plus basil leaves for serving
6 ounces low-moisture mozzarella, grated (about 1⅓ cups)
8 ounces fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced

Directions:
To Prepare the Marinara Sauce
1. Preheat oven to 350°.
2. Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat.
3. Cook garlic, stirring often until golden (4 minutes).
4. Add onion, anchovies and red pepper flakes.
5. Cook, stirring often, until onion is translucent (5 minutes).
6. Stir in tomato paste and cook, stirring often, until slightly darkened, (2 minutes).
7. Add wine, bring to a boil, and cook until almost completely evaporated, (1-minute).
8. Add tomatoes, breaking up with your hands, and their juices. Do not discard cans.
9. Add basil and oregano and stir to combine.
10. Swirl 1.5 cups water into one tomato can, then the other, to rinse, and add to pot.
11. Season with salt.
12. Transfer pot uncovered to the oven.
13. Cook for 2-2.5hours stirring halfway through.
14. Let sauce cool slightly.
15. Use a stick blender and blend until mostly smooth.
16. Taste and season with salt.
You can make the sauce up to 2-days ahead of time, and refrigerate.

Eggplant
1. Lightly season eggplant slices on both sides with salt.
2. Place in a single layer on several layers of paper towels inside a rimmed baking sheet.
3. Top with another layer of paper towels and more slices; repeat as needed.
4. Top with a final layer of paper towels, then another rimmed baking sheet; weigh down with a heavy pot.
5. Let eggplant sit for 60-minutes, until it has released excess liquid.
6. In a food processor, pulse panko, oregano, pepper, and 3/4 cup Parmesan until very finely ground.
7. Transfer breading mixture to a shallow bowl.
8. Preheat oven to 350°.
9. Place flour in another shallow bowl.
10. Place eggs in a third shallow bowl.
11. Working one at a time, dredge eggplant slices in flour, then dip in egg, allowing excess to drip off.
12. Coat in breadcrumbs, packing all around, then shaking off excess.
13. Place on wire racks.
14. Heat oil in a large skillet, over medium-high.
15. Cook as many eggplant slices as will comfortably fit in pan until deep golden (2.5 minutes/ side).
16. Transfer to paper towels and immediately press with more paper towel to absorb oil.
17. Working in batches, repeat with remaining slices, adding additional oil and wiping out skillet as needed.
18. Toss chopped herbs, low-moisture mozzarella, and remaining 3/4 cup Parmesan in a medium bowl.

Assembly
1. Spread 1 cup sauce over the bottom of a 13×9″ baking dish.
2. Top with a layer of eggplant slices (trim as needed).
3. Drizzle 1 cup sauce over and sprinkle with 1/3 of cheese mixture.
4. Add another layer of eggplant, followed by 1-cup sauce and half of remaining cheese mixture.
5. Repeat layers with remaining slices, sauce, and cheese mixture.
6. Cover with foil and bake 50-minutes.
7. Remove from oven and arrange fresh mozzarella over eggplant.
8. Increase oven temperature to 425F and bake, uncovered, until cheese is bubbling and browned in spots (15–20 minutes).
9. Let rest 30 minutes.
10. Top with basil leaves just before slicing.

Wine Pairings:
We preface all of our wine pairing suggestions by letting you know that it’s really a matter of personal taste. While we do offer our opinions and why we selected a specific varietal, there is no right or wrong answer when pairing a wine with your dinner.

Chianti
This Eggplant Parmesan recipe combines the rich creamy flavors of the eggplant with marinara, melted cheese and the fresh flavor of basil. This is definitely a stick to your ribs kind of dinner, so I would recommend a hearty dry Italian wine. In this case, I feel that a Chianti would pair best with this dish. Chianti wines have flavors that are reminiscent of tart cherries, plum, tomato leaf, leather and clay pot. These notes would pair great with this recipe! Follow the link to our wine review site to find our favorite Chiantis-LetsHaveWine.com

Have you tried this recipe? If so, leave us your comments below!