You may use up all the yellow squash that your garden produces every summer by grilling this delectable squash. With zucchini, I follow the same procedure.
| Prep Time: | 20 mins |
| Cook Time: | 45 mins |
| Additional Time: | 3 hrs |
| Total Time: | 4 hrs 5 mins |
| Servings: | 6 |
Ingredients
- 2 eggplant, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch slices
- 1 tablespoon salt, or as needed
- 1 cup Italian-style bread crumbs
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 (28 ounce) jar garlic-and-tomato pasta sauce
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 (16 ounce) package shredded mozzarella cheese, or as needed
- ½ teaspoon dried basil
Instructions
- Place eggplant slices in a colander; sprinkle both sides of each slice with salt. Allow to sit for at least 3 hours. Wipe excess moisture from eggplant slices with paper towels.
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a baking sheet.
- Mix bread crumbs and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese together in a shallow bowl. Beat eggs in a separate shallow bowl.
- Dip eggplant slices in beaten egg. Lift up so excess egg drips back into the bowl. Press into bread crumbs to coat both sides; arrange coated eggplant slices in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake in the preheated oven until lightly browned and crisp, about 5 minutes per side.
- Cover the bottom of a 9×13-inch casserole dish with a layer of pasta sauce; top with a layer of eggplant slices. Sprinkle with about 1 tablespoon of the remaining Parmesan cheese and 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat layers with remaining ingredients, ending with a cheese layer. Sprinkle with basil.
- Bake in the preheated oven until cheese is bubbling and golden brown, about 35 minutes.
- Fresh basil leaves layered in one of the layers adds lots of fresh flavor. You can also add fresh garlic and fresh basil to the sauce if you like. I like to add 2 to 4 cloves of fresh garlic and 5 to 10 leaves of freshly harvested basil.
- The nutrition data for this recipe includes the full amount of salt and breading used on the eggplant. The actual amount of salt and breading consumed will vary.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 474 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 44 g |
| Cholesterol | 119 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 10 g |
| Protein | 30 g |
| Saturated Fat | 11 g |
| Sodium | 2428 mg |
| Sugars | 18 g |
| Fat | 20 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Especially like the tip about adding fresh basil to a layer. If I may suggest something? I used to prep eggplant the way you described (though only for an hour). Thinking back, this step discouraged me from eating much eggplant until I learned the tech I use now. As with many terrific cooking tips, it comes to us from Asia. Slice, dice, or chunk the eggplant any way you like. Then, submerge it in salty water for 20 minutes. Rinse, drain, pat dry, and it’s ready. Try it!
Excellent recipe, this is one of my favorite dishes. From other reviews I rinsed the salt off my slices then put them back to drain a second time (about 40 minutes with salt, 40 after rinsing). I also baked first time 15 minutes per side to brown and 50 minutes on the second bake. I did add a flour step before the egg dip, and I seasoned all of the dips with salt, pepper, dried basil and a pinch of garlic powder.
I made this Recipe 4 stars only because the time to “lightly brown and crisp” the eggplant as described was way off. I used 1/4 inch slices of eggplant and it took approximately ten minutes for the tops to get slightly golden. I had checked them at the 5 minute mark as suggested and they were the same color as they went in on both sides. When I flipped them after another 8 minutes, the bottoms were slightly more than golden. After another ten minutes they came out perfectly with the “new” bottoms being lightly browned…as if they had been pan fried the old fashioned way of making this, without all of the extra grease obviously. No, they were not too “crispy” because they were cut thinner. Other than that, on taste, and remaining prep it’s 5 STARS ***** (PS yes, my oven temp is accurate, I double checked it with an oven thermometer after making this)
It was awesome! Easy and quick once past the draining process. I was unable locate the size sauce. We definitely wanted more sauce. Will make again.
Cooking times and temps. way off in this recipe. Eggplant was not cooked and was tough. Recommend higher temp 375-400 and longer baking times. put cheese on top at the end, so eggplant will cook through.
Cut recipe in half and easy to make! Tasted very good, !! Will make again!!
Very good recipe. I used no salt because the sodium information is WAY off.
Delicious!
It was Delicious. I dipped slices in flour, egg & then Italian Breadcrumbs. Placed on oiled nonstick baking sheet & drizzled olive oil on top of each slice. Baked at 425 for 10 minutes on each side. When layering in dish I also added a slice of tomato from my garden on each eggplant slice. Baked at 350 – 35 minutes
I make a similar recipe which saves a lot of time. Slice eggplant, sprinkle with a little salt, pepper and oregano, spray with olive oil and roast in an air fryer for 5-6 minutes, depending on thickness of slices. From that point just layer with marinara, cheese of choice (I use parm, a little mozarella and alouette herb and garlic). After three layers, finish with marinara and top with panko bread crumbs mixed with a little olive oil and parmesan. Adapted from Ina Garten.
I added a bit of ricotta cheese to each layer (used less mozzarella) and it was delish.
I have been frying eggplant for years never again!!! This recipe is the best and easiest and in reality better for you. Don’t be afraid try it I will never fry eggplant again!
i did not have fresh basil i used dried, same results excellent .
This is a great eggplant recipe! I really liked the idea of baking the slices first instead of frying them.
Fantastic recipe! The whole family loved it! Thank you.
Easy recipe, tasted great! I added fresh basil as well as some shaved Parmesan.
While not really a fan of eggplant I had 2 that were given to me so I had to use them. This recipe matched almost all the ingredients I had on hand, I ended up not having Basil. While the end results were way better than I had expected the process itself was a bit more labor intensive than I liked. This was also my first time making this dish. With that being said…. I would make this dish again….. I would just start earlier in the day. Eating at 7 pm doesn’t appeal to me.
This recipe was delicious! (I added lots of fresh garlic and basil!)
While I didn’t make the recipe exactly, I did use the technique for salting/prepping the eggplant. Both my husband and I agreed it was hands-down, the best eggplant I’ve ever made.
Grazie Mille! Since I found this recipe, making eggplant Parmesan is a pleasure! No more giant mess on the stove. Baking rather than frying the eggplant is genius! Who knew? I have one in the oven now. Mmmmm!
This recipe is delicious. I followed the directions exactly. Everyone loved it!