Baked Italian Eggplant

This baked eggplant recipe – a thinner, sheet-pan model of the Italian Eggplant Parmigiana – will please vegetarians and meat lovers. Layers of grilled eggplant smothered in a wealthy and savoury tomato sauce cooked with garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and a contact of chilli and baked with Mozzarella and Parmesan for that golden tacky, gooey crust end.

Sheet Pan Baked Italian Eggplant (aka Eggplant Parmigiana)

That is a kind of dishes that you simply make for a vegetarian visitor however then all of your meat-eating associates ask for the recipe. 

It’s just about Eggplant Parmigiana (or Eggplant Parmesan), besides I make it as a sheet-pan, double-layer tacky eggplant bake that’s thinner than the standard casserole dish. 

A big flat tray relatively than a deep baking dish does two issues: a well-browned, crispy eggplant and cheese crust AND a seemingly greater ratio of cheese to tomato and eggplant (though the quantities used are just like conventional recipes). 

As well as, my recipe has an extremely flavourful tomato sauce, also called sugo, made with plenty of garlic and sun-dried tomatoes for a extra intense, umami flavour. 

In accordance with my dinner visitors, this eggplant bake tastes like pizza and appears a bit like one too. It’s wealthy, savoury, smokey, tacky, tomato-garlicky, and heavenly. 

In the event you’re on the lookout for a scrumptious baked eggplant recipe to strive, ensure that to present this one a go! 

What To Serve With Baked Italian Eggplant

This baked eggplant dish can stand alone as a primary or be served as a aspect. Listed below are some meal options:

• Serve over rice or quinoa with a aspect of inexperienced salad or greens similar to evenly cooked asparagus or broccolini.
• It’s nice with most pasta, couscous, cooked lentils or chickpeas or with a aspect of sourdough bread.
• I made it as a aspect dish to share at our BBQ. We grilled meat and halloumi cheese and had a couple of lighter salads. The eggplant bake was like a secondary vegetarian primary dish but in addition labored with the entire meat (hen, sausages, lamb skewers). 
• For a easy low-carb dinner, I might serve it with grilled hen, steak or with roast lamb. 
• Leftovers are nice with fried eggs! 
• I’ve to say that it tastes nice scorching or chilly. I might say it’s even higher cooled down so I typically depart it out for an hour after cooking earlier than serving. 

How To Make Baked Italian Eggplant

There are three phases to creating this dish, two of which you are able to do in parallel. Let’s break it down with some step-by-step-pics. Discover the total recipe card with elements and dietary breakdown under.

• Pan-frying the eggplant
• Making the thicken tomato sauce.
• Baking the dish.

Put together The Eggplant

Slice the eggplant vertically, into 0.5-0.8 cm slices. Prepare in a single layer, sprinkle evenly with a teaspoon of salt, then place the remaining slices on high and season with salt as effectively. The salt tenderises the flesh and makes the eggplant soak up much less oil when cooking. It additionally reduces a number of the bitterness that could be current within the eggplant (though most eggplants nowadays will not be very bitter). 

Put aside for 10-Quarter-hour whilst you put together the sauce.

Put together Different Elements

Put together the tomato sauce elements. Finely cube the onion, and garlic, drain sun-dried tomatoes and chop if wanted. Grate the cheeses. Mozzarella could be changed with different well-melting cheese.

Make The Tomato Sauce

Warmth 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in a deep frying pan or a pot and add the onion. Saute for 3-4 minutes till softened, then add the garlic, sun-dried tomatoes, chilli flakes and 1 teaspoon of salt. Stir by for a minute and add the canned chopped tomatoes (2 cans). 

Stir and cook dinner for 15-20 minute over medium warmth. Hold it uncovered and stir continuously as we wish to evaporate the watery tomato liquid and thicken the sauce. You must have the ability to draw a path alongside the bottom of the pot that is still seen for a couple of seconds. This course of may even intensify the flavours.  

As soon as performed, use an immersion blender and partially puree the sauce. I do that instantly within the pan. In the event you don’t have a blende, it’s okay to go away it chunky. 

Pan-Fry The Eggplant

This may be performed in parallel to cooking the sauce. I exploit two frying pans to make the method a bit faster. Warmth the pans over medium-high warmth and as soon as actually scorching, add 1.5 tablespoons of olive oil in every. In case your pan may be very giant, you may want 2 tablespoons.

Use some paper towels or a kitchen towel to softly pat-dry the highest layer of the eggplants. This can soak up the water drops and a number of the salt. Place a couple of slices of eggplant in every pan in a single layer. Cook dinner for 2-3 minutes on the primary aspect, till golden brown and a bit shorter on the alternative aspect.

Don’t fear if the pan will get slightly dry. Solely add further oil if it feels prefer it could be burning. If extra oil is required, drizzle just a bit bit across the sides or in between the eggplants and swirl round. 

Take away cooked eggplant to a bowl or one other pan and put aside. Proceed till all eggplant slices are performed. 

Within the meantime, preheat the oven to 200 C / 400 F.

Assemble & Bake Eggplant Tomato & Cheese

Time to assemble all of it. Smear 1 / 4 of the sauce on the bottom of a sheet pan or baking dish. High with a layer of eggplant, I exploit about half of it, some slices might overlap. 

Unfold the eggplant with half of the remaining sauce. Layer the remaining slices on high and end with the sauce. 

End with grated Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese on high. I ended up utilizing 1.5 cups of Mozzarella pondering that it’s going to want it however as soon as it was baked all of the cheese was melted, I believe 1 cup of every is lots except you prefer it very tacky. 

Pop within the oven, center shelf, for 15-20 minutes till the cheese is totally melted and golden brown throughout. 

Take away from the oven and let it cool for a couple of minutes earlier than slicing and serving. It’s even higher afer it sits for half an hour or so. It will probably completely be served barely heat or chilly. 

Recipe Ideas

• We’re utilizing 4 medium to giant eggplants and it’d appear to be loads however eggplant shrinks because it cooks, so by the top it is going to be simply the correct amount.
• I like utilizing a big sheet pan to bake the eggplant. My pan measurement was large enough to rearrange the entire pre-cooked eggplant in two layers. It leads to a skinny bake that may be reduce into 9-12 items and I discover that 1 to 2 slices is sufficient for one serving. If in case you have smaller sheet pans, you are able to do this in two batches. 
• If all you may have a deeper baking dish, use the one with the biggest floor area. You might find yourself having three and even 4 layers of eggplant, during which case it is going to be nearly like an eggplant pie or lasagna. As soon as baked, you may reduce it into smaller slices. 

• The tomato sauce is thicker than what you’d make for pasta. If it’s too skinny, the water can cut up and bleed out from the sauce whereas the eggplant bakes and the entire turns into too sloppy and saucy, which isn’t the supposed end result right here. You wish to preserve the form and make it straightforward to slice and function slices. As well as, this thicker, lowered sauce has a way more intense flavour because of this, which provides the entire dish such an unimaginable style. 

Can You Bake The Eggplant As an alternative Of Frying First?

This query comes up loads as a result of pan-frying the eggplant requires a good quantity of oil, which in fact provides energy to the dish. Thoughts you, cooked the way in which described in my recipe, every slice is about 290 energy if reduce into 9 servings, it’s not outrageous.

Another is to bake the eggplant slices forward of time. You’ll have to do that in a couple of batches. Slice the eggplant lengthwise. Place on to 2-3 lined trays and brush both sides of each slice with olive oil, sprinkle very evenly with salt. Bake n a 220°C (430°F) oven for 35 to 40 minutes till the eggplant is lightly-browned.  

In my view, it’s a lot fast to pan-fry the eggplant however it would require extra olive oil. 

Extra Eggplant Recipes

Full Recipe 

Discover the total listing of elements, directions, and a dietary breakdown under. If in case you have questions or cook dinner this recipe, please let me know within the feedback, and ensure to fee this recipe so it’s straightforward for others to search out.

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