Description
This oven fried and Baked Eggplant Parmesan is the ultimate Italian comfort food. "Frying" the breaded eggplant in the oven is a super easy! This layered dish with homemade basil marinara and Parmesan and mozzarella cheeses will be a family favorite.
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 eggplants, about 2 1/2 pounds total weight
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour
- Kosher salt
- Pepper
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs
- 1 1/2 cups grated Parmesan cheese, divided
- 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 3 cups marinara sauce - I vote for a homemade sauce!
- 12 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Place 2 large rimmed baking sheets on the racks in the upper and lower third of the oven.
- Slice the eggplant into 1/2 inch slices. You want 24 slices of eggplant. Set aside.
- Gather 3 medium sized bowls and another baking sheet.
- In one bowl, add the flour and season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper.
- In a second bowl, whisk the 2 eggs with 2 tablespoons of water.
- In a third bowl, add the bread crumbs and 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese.
- Begin breading the eggplant slices with the following steps. Dip a slice of eggplant into the seasoned flour then into the egg and then into the breadcrumbs. Be sure to thoroughly coat both sides of the eggplant at each step. Set the breaded eggplant on the baking sheet. Continue breading the remainder of the eggplant slices.
- Remove the heated baking sheets for the oven. Pour about 3 to 4 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil on each sheet. Tilt the pans to spread out the oil.
- Place the breaded eggplant in a single layer on the baking sheets and return to the oven. Bake for 20 minutes.
- Flip the eggplant slices over and switch the baking sheets to the opposite racks. Bake for an additional 15 minutes. Both sides of the eggplant should be crispy and golden brown. Remove from the oven.
- In a 9 x 13 inch baking pan, spread about 3/4 cup of marinara sauce. Place 6 of the eggplant slices in the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle with 1/4 of the shredded mozzarella cheese and 1/4 of the Parmesan cheese. Drizzle 1/4 of marinara sauce over the eggplant. The eggplant slices will not be completely covered with the sauce or cheeses.
- Continue making 3 more layers with 6 eggplant slices in each layer. Sprinkle the final layer with more Parmesan cheese.
- Bake in a 425 degree F oven for about 20 minutes. The cheese should be lightly browned and the sauce bubbly.
Notes
- To peel or not to peel? The eggplant that is. It's really just a matter of personal preference. I like to keep the peel on. Not only does it the eggplant peel add vitamins and minerals to the dish, it looks pretty too.
- To salt or not to salt? Again, this is a matter of personal preference. This method does draw some of the water, but not enough to drastically change the finished dish. Many think this draws out the bitterness too. But most eggplants these days are more on the mild side. So there is still no need to salt the eggplant slices.
- Making your own batch of marinara really adds to the homemade taste of this baked eggplant Parmesan. While the eggplant is oven frying, it is easy peasy to toss together a delicious marinara sauce with fresh basil.
- I'm always a fan of shredding your own cheese. Preshedded cheese is not as fresh tasting and is coated with an anticlumping ingredient which inhibits its meltability. Either use a hand grater (and get in a good arm workout) or a food processor to get the shredding done.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Category: entrée
- Method: bake in oven
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1/6 of recipe
- Calories: 619
- Sugar: 17.2 g
- Sodium: 1219 mg
- Fat: 34.8 g
- Saturated Fat: 12.8 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 48.1 g
- Fiber: 10.6 g
- Protein: 32.3 g
- Cholesterol: 111 mg