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.
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.
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.
- 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
- Preheat your oven to 450F.
- Arrange eggplant slices in a medium sized baking dish. Drizzle generously with olive oil and Kosher salt. Bake for 30 minutes.
- 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.
- 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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