| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 1 hr 15 min |
| Active: | 45 min |
| Yield: | 4 to 6 servings, with extra sauce |
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, chopped (about 1 cup)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup dry red wine
- One 28-ounce can San Marzano tomatoes
- 1 bunch fresh basil
- 2 quarts vegetable oil, for frying
- 3 to 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
- 4 large eggs
- 4 cups Italian breadcrumbs
- One 1-pound eggplant, sliced into 1/8-inch rounds (about 24 slices)
- 1 1/2 cups shredded whole-milk mozzarella
- 1 1/2 cups freshly grated Parmesan
Instructions
- To make a quick marinara sauce, place a saucepot over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and onions. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are softened and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds more. Pour in the red wine and cook for 1 minute to reduce. Using your hands or a potato masher, crush the tomatoes and add to the saucepot, including any juices from the can. Stir to combine. Add 1 whole stem of fresh basil leaves. Bring the sauce to a simmer and reduce the heat to medium low. Allow the sauce to continuing cooking while the rest of the components are prepared.
- Pour the vegetable oil into a Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot and attach a deep-frying thermometer. Heat the oil over medium heat to 375 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with paper towels and top with a cooling rack.
- Set up 3 low-sided dishes to make a breading station: To the first dish, add the flour, Italian seasoning and garlic powder. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper and stir to combine. In the second dish, beat the eggs. To the third dish, add the breadcrumbs.
- Dredge both sides of the eggplant slices in the seasoned flour, shaking each piece to remove any excess. Next, dip the eggplant slices into the egg, allowing it to drip before moving onto the third dish. Then, coat the eggplant in the breadcrumbs evenly on both sides.
- Working in batches, carefully place the breaded eggplant into the hot oil. Fry until golden brown and crispy, about 30 seconds per side. Transfer to the cooling rack on the baking sheet. Sprinkle each slice generously with kosher salt. Continue this process until all the eggplant rounds have been fried.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Remove the basil stem from the marinara sauce.
- Remove the paper towels from the baking sheet. Build towers on the cooling rack: Top a slice of eggplant with 1 tablespoon of marinara sauce, 1 tablespoon mozzarella, 1 tablespoon Parmesan and 1 basil leaf. Place a second piece of eggplant on top and repeat this process. Top the tower with a third piece of eggplant and repeat only with sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan (no basil). Repeat this process to create 8 towers on the cooling rack.
- Bake until the cheese is melted and slightly browned on top, about 20 minutes. Transfer the towers to a serving platter. Garnish each eggplant tower with a fresh basil leaf and serve immediately.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 1595 |
| Total Fat | 103 g |
| Saturated Fat | 17 g |
| Carbohydrates | 123 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 10 g |
| Sugar | 12 g |
| Protein | 43 g |
| Cholesterol | 171 mg |
| Sodium | 1333 mg |
Reviews
Love this. I’ve had this at a restaurant that had sauce and goat cheese crumbles in between layers with sauce and mozzarella on top. Use jarred sauce. Serve with pasta on the side. Delicious.
Tried this for my first time making eggplant ever and it was a HUGE hit!
Delicious! I ended up making this on a week night so by the time I fried everything up I didn’t want to stack it all so I just layered all the ingredients in a small baking pan and made eggplant parm instead. Exact same ingredients just in a different form – this made the best pan of eggplant I’ve had in a long time! I will definitively do the towers for appetizers or entertaining, but it will now be my go to recipe for eggplant parm! Yum!
Very yummy!! We love eggplant Parmesan and are especially in love with this recipe that keeps the eggplant crispy!!
Loved it!!
My husband who swore he didn’t like eggplant thought it was wonderful and wants me to make it again
It’s only taken 18 years!
My husband who swore he didn’t like eggplant thought it was wonderful and wants me to make it again
It’s only taken 18 years!
Yummy! Very good, but a time-consuming recipe with all the parts. Make this when you have plenty of time or a good sous chef! I felt that the eggplant needed a bit more salt, so season liberally when it comes out of the oil. I served it with some extra sauce on the side to dip it in. Thanks, Trisha and Jeff!
I’m watching Trisha’s show with Jeff now. On commercials making my list for tomorrow when I hit the market. Stayed tuned. Will let you know how they turn out
I have never felt compelled to write a review on a recipe off the internet but these are absolutely fantastic! My husband raved about them and so did I. The beauty of this recipe is that you make them individually so you can put as much or as little sauce and cheese on each tower according to the likes of your family. The flavors blend so well. It was almost as good as the eggplant parmesan I had while visiting Italy!
Turned out really well!! I used pesto instead of basil since I made it last summer and had it on hand.