Eggplant Parmesan
Ingredients
Scale
- 1 1/2–3 pounds eggplant (**peeled and cut in 1/2 inch slices)
- salt
- flour
- 1/2+ cup olive oil (For this recipe we used Filippo Berio®)
- 3–4 cups tomato sauce (For this recipe we used Prego® Traditional Sauce)
- 8 ounces mozzarella cheese (thinly sliced or shredded)
- 1/2–1 cup parmesan cheese (shredded)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°. Choose a shallow 1 1/2-2 quart baking dish that is attractive enough to serve from and rub it with olive oil.
- **Sprinkle both sides of eggplant slices with salt, to draw out their moisture, and spread them out on paper towels. Let them sit while heating the oil. Pat the salted eggplant with a clean, dry paper towel to absorb the moisture the salt draws out.
- Dip each slice in flour and shake off the excess
- In a heavy 10- to 12-inch skillet, heat olive oil until a light haze forms over it and brown eggplant slices a few at a time, working quickly to preven them from soaking up too much oil. If the oil cooks away, add more. As the eggplant browns (light brown, not too fried), transfer the slices to fresh paper towels to drain.
- Now pour 1/4 inch of the tomato sauce into the oiled baking dish. Spread the drained eggplant slices over the sauce, top them with a layer of mozzarella cheese, and sprinkle over it part of the parmesan cheese.
- Repeat with another layer of the tomato sauce, eggplant, mozzarella cheese and parmesan cheese. If desred, repeat with another layer of tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, and parmesan cheese, omitting the eggplant on the last layer.
- Cover the dish snugly with foil and bake in the middle of the oven for 20 minutes. Remove the foil and bake uncovered for 10 minutes longer.
Notes
**Many people don’t like eggplant because it isn’t prepared correctly and it is bitter and tough. This is why you need to peel the eggplant (the tough part) and salt it before cooking (takes out the bitterness). This is a very critical step for this recipe to taste so delicious.