Ali’s Lightened-up Eggplant Parmesan

08 Aug 2012 6 Comments

by sparksfromthekitchen in Lunch, Main Dish Tags: ,

 

I LOVE this dish! After years of trying to find an eggplant parm recipie that wasn’t totally slathered in sauce/fried etc… I created this one. I love eggplant and this one totally lets the eggplant shine-the texture, the taste-it’s not mushy, it’s not bitter-it’s just right.

The beauty of this dish is the feeling the texture of the eggplant, the melted cheese and pieces of tomato in the marinara sauce. This dish is not a typical eggplant parm as the eggplant is baked instead of fried-saving a ton of calories. Since there are so few ingredients use the best quality and freshest ingredients possible. This is the time to splurge on the San Marzano tomatoes for the sauce and a gorgeous ball of hand-made, super fresh mozzarella and wedge of parmesan. This dish is not one drowned in sauce or cheese (you can add more if you like) but I find that using less keeps the eggplant from becoming mushy. Enjoy!!

Image

Ali’s Lightened-up Eggplant Parmesan

Ingredients:

  • 3.5-4 cups home made chunky marinara sauce
  • 1 medium eggplant, peeled and sliced into ¼ inch rounds
  • ¾ lb fresh salted mozzarella cheese, sliced to 1/8 inch rounds
  • 1-1.5 cups seasoned breadcrumbs
  • ½ cup plus 1 tbsp. freshly grated parmesan cheese
  • 2-3 large egg whites, lightly beaten
  • ¼ tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
  • 3-4 tbsp salt
  • Cooking spray

Instructions:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350. Coat 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray. Set aside.
  2. Place eggplant in a colander in the sink, sprinkle with salt and mix to coat. Let rest 20 minutes.
  3. Combine breadcrumbs, 1 tbsp of parmesan, Italian seasoning and garlic powder in a shallow dish. Place egg whites in another shallow dish.
  4. Rinse eggplant well and pat dry. Dip eggplant into egg then into breadcrumbs. Place on a non-stick baking sheet and bake in oven for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned, turning once.
  5. Spread a thin layer of marinara sauce onto the bottom of the baking dish, then 1 layer of eggplant, scatter 1 layer of mozzarella, sprinkle with parmesan. Spoon another layer of marinara sauce over the cheese and continue making layers until all of the ingredients are used-finishing up with a final thin layer of sauce and cheese. There should be about 4 layers.
  6. Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes until cheese is melted and cooked thoroughly.
  7. Remove from oven and serve.

Servings: 6 Prep Time: 30 minutes Cook time 35-45 minutes total.