My mom’s a good cook, though cooking to her was more of a chore than a labor of love. She worked full-time, yet she somehow managed to put a home cooked meal on the table most nights. We rarely ate at restaurants, other than our regular pizza nights (fast food was a relatively new thing back when I was a kid, and even pizza was from a local restaurant and not a chain experience), and she rarely relied on frozen meals – with the notable exception of pot pies.
In Italian families I think wars could be fought over tomato sauce, and it would have been unthinkable to use a store-bought sauce, even if such a thing was available back then. This recipe calls for a simple marinara sauce. The one shown here is my own variation on my mother’s original recipe. Very close, but I tend to like more garlic and more herb. Feel free to customize to your own palate.
MARINARA HACK: Please, this can never get back to my mother, or she might disown me, but when I’ve been too busy to make my own marinara I have used a bottled sauce. Rao’s is the only sauce I like. (One of their 32 oz. jars works perfectly for a 9″ square baking dish.) They don’t put sugar or chemicals into it, and it has good flavor. Still, I do add granulated garlic and herbs to “fix” it.
The success of this recipe relies very heavily on the quality of the cheese. I rarely grate my own cheese anymore, as there are several store bought grated cheeses available at the local market. That said, I only buy a good quality cheese from the refrigerated cheese section of the market, and not one of the shelf stable grated cheeses sold next to the jarred sauces. I like a Parmigiana Reggiano or a good Parmesan or Romano. Any will work fine. Again, feel free to customize to your palate. (A former friend once told me he used my cheddar in this recipe. Former friend.)
When I first learned this Mom would peel the eggplant and then salt the individual cutlets, layer them in a colander and weight them down with a couple of the big, heavy cans of tomatoes on a plate to squeeze the acid out of them. Then she’d rinse off the salt and bread the cutlets. She still peels the eggplant, though she no longer salts them or tries to squeeze the acid out. The result isn’t really noticeably different, after all the tomato sauce has a good deal of acid that masks it. I no longer peel the eggplant, and I find the skin cooks to a tenderness that dissolves into the dish.
CUTLET HACK: I have “oven fried” the cutlets, spraying a baking pan with olive oil, then layering the cutlets and spraying the tops with oil, then baking at 350 degrees for about fifteen minutes, flipping them and baking another ten minutes. This makes the dish arguably “healthier”, but, the coating sometimes sticks to the pan, and the cutlets don’t have the same mouth feel that frying gives them, so I’d rather just eat a little less, and get the full intensity of the dish.
I like my eggplant sliced not too thin. I want to taste the eggplant, and face it, tomato sauce and cheese are pretty strong flavors to stand against. Also, sliced too thin there is too great a bread crumb to eggplant ratio for my taste. You’ll find your happy place in this with experience.
Finally, I have experimented with Panko, and with Italian seasoned breadcrumb. I’ve even tried to up the flavor adding grated cheese into the breading. Nope. Not the same. Stick with plain breadcrumb and let the sauce and the cheese work separately.
This recipe (minus time for the sauce to simmer), comes together in about a half hour, from slicing the eggplant to frying to layering. Then another 45 minutes in the oven.
EGGPLANT PARMESAN
MARINARA SAUCE (can be made ahead and refrigerated up to four days)
INGREDIENTS
- 28 oz cans Crushed Tomatoes (I usually use Red Pack)
- 6 oz can Tomato Paste (I use Contadina)
- Tablespoons Olive Oil
- Tablespoons Minced Garlic
- ½ Cup Diced Onion
- 2 Tablespoons Fresh Oregano (can use 1 ½ Tablespoons Dried)
- 2 Tablespoons Fresh Basil (can use 1 ½ Tablespoons Dried)
- 2 Teaspoons Granulated or Powdered Garlic
- 2 Teaspoon Granulated or Powdered Onion
- Salt & Pepper to taste
NOTE: if using Garlic Salt and/or Onion Salt adjust Salt to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
In a large sauce pan place olive oil, onions and minced garlic and set on medium heat til fragrant and onions are translucent, stirring occasionally to make sure not to burn the garlic. Add in the crushed tomatoes and tomato paste, the herbs and granulated garlic and onion, stir and simmer on medium, covered for 1 – 3 hours. The more you simmer the more intense the flavors, but you might have to thin it with ½ cup of water, or you can use red or white wine.
EGGPLANT CUTLETS
INGREDIENTS
- 3 Medium Eggplants sliced cross ways to disks
- 2 Cups plain breadcrumb
- 3 Eggs, lightly scrambled
- 8 oz Grated Parmsan Reggiano
- Extra Basil and Oregano to sprinkle on top
- Canola Oil for Frying
INSTRUCTIONS
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Dredge eggplant round in egg, allowing excess to drain off before placing in breadcrumb and patting to coat evenly. Place on a plate until you are ready to fry. Once you have enough breaded cutlets you can start frying, but be careful not to burn the cutlets.
In a large skillet or frying pan put about a half inch of canola oil to 350° F. I use a candy thermometer to monitor oil. Do not put cutlets in until the oil is hot or they will absorb too much oil. Fry cutlets til browned on one side, about 3 minutes. Flip and fry the other side. Place on paper towels to drain.
ASSEMBLY
In a 9” square baking dish coat the bottom with tomato sauce, layer eggplant cutlets to overlap across the bottom. Coat top of cutlets with sauce and sprinkle generously with grated cheese. Repeat three more times, layering cutlets, sauce and cheese. Sprinkle with fresh herbs. Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes. The sides should be dark around the edges.
Ingredients
- 28 oz Crushed Tomatoes canned
- 6 oz Tomato paste
- tbsp Olive Oil
- tbsp Minced garlic
- 1/2 cup Diced onion
- 2 tbsp Fresh oregano can use 1 1/2 tbsp dried
- 2 tbsp Fresh basil can use 1 1/2 tbsp dried
- 2 tsp Granulated garlic
- 2 tsp Granulated onion
- Salt & pepper to taste
Eggplant cutlets
- 3 Medium eggplants sliced cross ways to disks
- 2 cups Plain breadcrumbs
- 3 Eggs, lightly scrambled
- 8 oz Grated Parmesan Reggiano
- Extra basil and oregano to sprinkle on top
- Canola oil for frying
Instructions
- In a large sauce pan place olive oil, onions and minced garlic and set on medium heat til fragrant and onions are translucent, stirring occasionally to make sure not to burn the garlic. Add in the crushed tomatoes and tomato paste, the herbs and granulated garlic and onion, stir and simmer on medium, covered for 1 – 3 hours. The more you simmer the more intense the flavors, but you might have to thin it with ½ cup of water, or you can use red or white wine.
- Preheat oven to 350°F.Dredge eggplant round in egg, allowing excess to drain off before placing in breadcrumb and patting to coat evenly. Place on a plate until you are ready to fry. Once you have enough breaded cutlets you can start frying, but be careful not to burn the cutlets.In a large skillet or frying pan put about a half inch of canola oil to 350° F. I use a candy thermometer to monitor oil. Do not put cutlets in until the oil is hot or they will absorb too much oil. Fry cutlets til browned on one side, about 3 minutes. Flip and fry the other side. Place on paper towels to drain.
- In a 9” square baking dish coat the bottom with tomato sauce, layer eggplant cutlets to overlap across the bottom. Coat top of cutlets with sauce and sprinkle generously with grated cheese. Repeat three more times, layering cutlets, sauce and cheese. Sprinkle with fresh herbs. Bake at 350°F for 45 minutes. The sides should be dark around the edges.