Eggplant parmigiana recipe with step by step pics – eggplant parmesan is a delicious Italian baked dish of eggplant with tomato-herb sauce and cheese.
Eggplant or aubergine or what we call as ‘baingan’ in hindi is a my favorite veggies. No one at home is fond of this veggie so much as me. So when I make eggplant based dishes, most of the time its for myself. One has to be selfish at times 😉
Amongst a few Italian recipes I like with eggplant are an eggplant pasta (which an Italian colleague had made once for all of us) and eggplant sticks.
I had made this eggplant parmigiana long time back and the recipe was still in the drafts. So today being a hectic day I thought why not add this baked Italian vegetarian recipe.
The eggplant parmigiana recipe is simple enough to be made. Usually parmesan cheese is used. Its difficult for me to get vegetarian parmesan cheese, so I used mozzarella cheese. You can also use cheddar cheese.
If you like baked eggplant dishes or even just any dish with eggplant for that matter, then you will like this cheesy tangy and succulent aubergine recipe.
How to make eggplant parmigiana recipe
1. Rinse and slice one medium sized eggplant lengthwise in 3 to 4 mm thick slices. Spread some salt all over them. Toss as well mix the salt with the slices. Keep them on a plate for 15-20 minutes.
2. then rinse them in water and dry them completely with a kitchen cotton towel or paper towel.
3. Heat 4 tbsp oil in a pan. pan fry the eggplant slices in batches till golden. Do make sure that the oil is hot enough. Eggplants absorb a lot of oil while frying. If the oil is not hot, then the eggplants will become too oily after being fried. If you do not want to pan fry the eggplants, then you can even grill or bake them.
4. Drain on paper towels so that the excess of oil is absorbed.
Making sauce for eggplant parmesan
5. The oil in the pan would almost be over. in the same pan, add 1 tbsp olive oil. Add the finely chopped onion and garlic. Saute till the onions are translucent.
6. Then add the tomatoes and saute till the tomatoes soften and become pulpy.
7. Add the wine, salt, pepper and saute for a minute. Skip wine if making for kids.
8. Then add the oregano and chopped fresh basil and saute for a minute. You can also use dried basil instead of fresh basil. Switch off the flame and keep the tomato-herb sauce aside.
Baking eggplant parmesan
9. Preheat your oven at 200 degrees celsius. Brush a baking pan lightly with olive oil. First make a layer with half portion of the tomato-herb sauce.
10. Then arrange 3 to 4 fried eggplant slices on the top. directly grate some cheese on top evenly.
12. layer with the remaining half of the tomato herb sauce. Place the last slices of the eggplant. grate cheese on the top to almost cover the whole pan. If you have breadcrumbs, then you can sprinkle some breadcrumbs on top of the cheese.
In a preheated oven bake the eggplant parmigiana for 8-10 minutes at 200 degrees C or till the cheese melts or gets golden. Serve eggplant parmigiana hot or warm.
Few more tasty recipes for you!
Eggplant Parmigiana
Ingredients
- 1 medium sized eggplant (aubergine or brinjal or bhartha baingan)
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh basil or ½ teaspoon dried basil
- ½ teaspoon dry oregano
- 1 small to medium onion, finely chopped
- 2 large tomatoes, finely chopped - about 2 cups of finely chopped tomatoes
- 2-3 garlic cloves - finely chopped
- 4 tablespoon vegetable oil for frying the eggplants
- 1 tablespoon olive oil for the sauce
- 1 teaspoon white or red wine (optional)
- 40 to 50 grams cheese, mozarella or cheddar
- salt as required
- black pepper as required
Instructions
pan frying the eggplant
- Rinse and slice the eggplant (baingan) lengthwise in 3 to 4 mm width slices.
- Spread some salt all over them. Mix the salt and keep them for 15-20 minutes.
- Then rinse them in water and dry them completely.
- Heat 4 tbsp oil in a pan. Fry the eggplant slices in batches till golden.
- Drain on paper towels so that the excess of oil is absorbed.
making sauce for eggplant parmesan
- The oil in the pan would almost be over. In the same pan, add 1 tbsp olive oil
- Add the finely chopped onion and garlic. Saute till the onions are translucent.
- Then add the tomatoes and saute till the tomatoes soften and become pulpy.
- Add the wine, salt, pepper and saute for a minute.
- Then add the oregano and basil and saute for a minute.
baking eggplant parmesan
- Brush the pan with olive oil. first make a layer of half of the tomato-herb sauce.
- Then arrange 3 to 4 slices of the fried aubergines. grate some cheese on top.
- Layer with the remaining of the tomato sauce.
- Place the last slices of the aubergines.
- Grate cheese on the top to almost cover the whole pan.
- In a preheated oven bake the eggplant parmesan for 8-10 minutes at 200 degrees c till the cheese melts.
- Serve eggplant parmesan hot or warm.
I tried your Mirchi Ka Salaan today. It came out amazingly good. My wife and my daughter just loved it and so did I. This looks yummy. I am going to try this tomorrow. Thanks a ton Dassana for being out there on the web.
thanks again sudhir. do let me know how the eggplant parmigiana goes for you. happy cooking.
Great Recipe! Made this for my family and they loved it!!
thankyou joanna glad your family liked them 🙂
Instead of cheese can I add anything else. I don’t like cheese.
you can add sour cream in the layers. skip it from adding on the top.
Hi Dassana,
The recipe turned out very good.. My family loved it. Thanks a lot for sharing your recipes. Hey Dassana, could u pls pass on your recipe of tomato puree..
welcome chetana. glad to know this. i will add the recipe of tomato puree soon.
Hi Dassana , Made it today also added pasta to it n it was yummmmmmmm. Husband loved it. Thnks a ton
welcome swetha. glad to know this.
Hi.. Thanks for all your recipes, I tried many and it came out very very good.
First of all sorry, my question is about tomato soup and i could n’t find option to response there.
I have a small question, here in my location cream is not available, in shops i saw california sour cream many times but i don’t know it is same or different, if not what can be used instead of cream?
welcome meena. its alright. you can skip the cream.
so sour cream and cooking cream are different?
meena, yes they both are different. sour cream taste sour. cooking cream does not taste sour.
It is egg plant in my parlance. I love it, especially the baby ones. It’s a great recipe for those of us who are gluten-intolerant. I am also lactose intolerant so I’d probably skip the cheese and simmer the other ingredients. Sounds good!
thanks sue for your feedback.
Will try making this tomorrow. Thank you for this superb recipe!
welcome arpita