Best Homemade Eggplant Parmesan Recipe – I have to say with all truth, this is the best eggplant “parmesan” I have ever put in my mouth. For more vegetarian Italian recipes, check HERE.
Seriously. I’m not sure if it was the freshness of the ingredients, the purity of them or the technique. But it was good. I ate the whole thing over a couple of days. The fresh basil really makes a difference too, I think.
INGREDIENTS – Best Homemade Eggplant Parmesan Recipe
1 non-gmo, organic* eggplant (if possible)
pink salt
1 farm fresh egg*
3/4 cup Romano cheese
6-8 Roma tomatoes*
1/2 tsp marjoram*
2 chopped garlic cloves*
drizzle of good olive oil*
8 0z log of fresh mozzarella*
olive oil cooking spray*
fresh basil* for garnish (and taste)
*indicates organic
METHOD
Preheat oven to 425F
Cut tomatoes in half longways and place cut side down on a baking sheet
Roast until skin blisters on top (20-30 min)
Remove and set aside to cool
Slice eggplant 1/8 to 1/4 inch width, longways or slice into rounds.
Salt each side and put in the baking dish while the tomatoes are roasting
Rinse off the salt and dredge in whipped egg and then dredge in 1/2 cup Romano cheese
(leave rest of Romano for top of baking dish)
Place on baking sheet and roast until lightly browned (same oven temp) 15-20 min
Peel tomatoes and put in 2 quart saucepan, mash and add 3/4 quart of water, marjoram, garlic and a splash of olive oil.
Simmer and stir while eggplant is roasting and cooling off
Slice mozzarella cheese into 1/4 inch rounds
Spray square 8 x 8 inch baking dish with cooking spray
Put about 1/3 of the sauce in the bottom of dish, then a layer of eggplant, then a layer of cheese
Repeat two more times and top with the rest of the Romano cheese
Turn down oven to 350F
Bake 35 – 40 minutes until bubbly and cheese is melty
Optional: if you want it a little brown on top like mine, don’t move the dish, just turn on the broiler for a couple of minutes at the end of baking. Don’t walk away from it, or it could burn.
Serve! Careful, it will be hot!
