Three Cheese Eggplant Parmesan

I’ll start out by saying, I’m typically not the biggest fan of eggplant. I think most of us can agree that eggplant falls pretty low on their list of favorite vegetables. Before you start feeling bad for our eggplant friend, I decided to give it another chance in my cheesy Italian recipe, Eggplant Parmesan.

When cooked correctly and paired with the right flavors, eggplant can be quite tasty. This dish combines a homemade tomato sauce and three types of cheeses; ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan. I opted to go the traditional route and fried the eggplant prior to baking, first dipping in egg and breadcrumbs to create a delicious crust. For a healthier option, you can skip the frying and bake the eggplant in the oven instead.

Layer all the ingredients and bake until the flavors blend together. Now doesn’t that sound delicious? Give this recipe a try, don’t give up on eggplant just yet!

Three Cheese Eggplant Parmesan

 

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Prep time

1 hour

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

1 hour 20 mins

 

Serves: 6 Servings

Ingredients

• Ingredients for Eggplant:
• 5 small eggplants, sliced ¼ inch lengthwise
• 2 cup Italian breadcrumbs
• 1 egg
• 1 cup shredded Parmesan
• ½ lb mozzarella
• 1 cup ricotta
• salt
• generous amounts of olive oil
• basil
• Ingredients for Sauce:
• 1 28 oz can of whole peeled tomatoes
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• ½ cup onion, chopped

Instructions

1. Cover the bottom of a large pan with olive oil and heat over medium high heat. Add the minced garlic and chopped onion, cook until translucent. Then add the canned whole tomatoes with their juice and salt to taste. Stir with a wooden spoon and using the spoon chop up the whole tomatoes as much as possible. Lower the heat and simmer until reduced by almost half. Let the sauce sit while you prepare the eggplant.
2. Keeping the skin on, slice the eggplant lengthwise into ¼ inch slices. Dredge the eggplant slices in the beaten egg, then dip in the breadcrumbs. Heat a generous amount of olive oil in a large pan over high heat. Drop in a few slices at a time in the hot olive oil and cook for 2 minutes on each side until a crust forms. Using a slotted spoon, remove from the pan and place on a paper towel lined plate. Continue frying the eggplant and add more olive oil to the pan if needed.
3. Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Using a 7x11 baking dish, spread a thin layer of sauce on the bottom and layer the eggplant until it completely covers the bottom. Sprinkle generously with the grated parmesan and a layer of ricotta. Add another layer of sauce, parmesan and ricotta and then the eggplant. Continue to build the layers until you are one layer from the top, then add a single layer of sliced mozzarella. Finish with one final layer of eggplant, sauce, parmesan and ricotta. Sprinkle the top with breadcrumbs and chopped basil.
4. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, until top is browned and bubbly. Serve with greens tossed in a light dressing and enjoy!

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