Eggplant Parmigiana- An Italian Delight

Recently, I tasted Eggplant Parmigiana at a friend’s place and totally fell in love with it. This delicious Italian recipe is for keeps and an absolute must-try. You can serve Eggplant Parmigiana as a starter with drinks (white wine pairs perfectly with it) or have it as an individual meal ( you can serve it with bread).

So, what is Eggplant Parmigiana?

Eggplant Parmigiana is an Italian dish made with eggplants (Brinjal/Aubergine), tomatoes and cheeses (mozzarella and parmesan). Eggplants are thinly sliced and fried. A delicious sauce with tomatoes and Italian spices is prepared. Then, in a baking dish, fried eggplants, tomato sauce and cheese are set in layers and baked till the cheeses melt, and you get a lovely golden hue on the top layer. While it tastes great when served hot, in my opinion, it tastes even better when it cools a bit (say, 30 minutes after taking it out of the oven) and is warm.

Eggplant Parmigiana is not exactly a vegetarian dish because it contains parmesan cheese, which contains rennet. However, you can replace it with any cheese that contains microbial Rennet ( mikrobielles Lab in German) to make a vegetarian version. I have written more about it in my article: Fresh Cheese in German Supermarkets-Explained.

Also, since this dish uses a good amount of cheese and involves frying the eggplants, it contains a good amount of fat. You can adjust this also to your preference. For example, you can replace regular mozzarella with low-fat mozzarella, and instead of deep frying/shallow frying the eggplants, you can fry them in the air fryer. I have shared information about ingredient sourcing in Germany as well as recipe tips at the end. You can check them out.

I love trying out various Italian dishes in my kitchen. If you would like to try some of them out too, check out my recipes for Minestrone Soup with Garlic Bread, Chicken and Cheese Sandwich with Italian spices, Prawn and Dill Pesto Pasta, Mushroom Pasta with Pesto Rosso, Pasta Carbonara, Veg Pasta in creamy white Sauce and Salmon and Arugula Pasta.

Now, let’s check out the recipe for Eggplant Parmigiana:

Equipment Needed:

• Pan for making the sauce
• Pan for frying the eggplants/Air Fryer
• Baking dish
• Knives and Cutting Board
• Aluminium Foil

Read about all the equipment I use in my kitchen in my article: Setting Up My Indian Kitchen in Germany.

Ingredients for Eggplant Parmigiana: 

Ingredients for preparing the Eggplants

• 2 Large Eggplants
• Salt to taste
• 3/4 Cup Refined Flour
• Olive oil for frying

Ingredients for Tomato Sauce

• 2 tbsp Olive Oil
• 2 Large Tomatoes; chopped
• 3-4 Garlic Cloves; finely chopped
• 1 Large Onion; chopped
• 500 gm Readymade Tomato Pulp with Basil
• 1 tsp Italian Herbs
• Salt; to taste
• ½ tsp Ground Black Pepper

Additionally, you need

• 400 gm Mozzarella Cheese
• 50 gm Parmesan Cheese
• Basil Leaves for garnishing

Method to make Eggplant Parmigiana

Preparing the Eggplants

• Wash the eggplants and thinly slice them.
  
  
  
• Rub salt on both sides of each slice.
  
  
  
• Let them rest for at least 15 minutes.
  
  
  
• After 15 minutes, you will see that the eggplant slices start releasing moisture.
  
  
  
• Pat dry the slices to get rid of moisture.
  
  
  
• Lightly coat them with refined flour.
  
  
  
• Shallow fry/deep fry or air-fry the slices
  
  
  
• Keep them aside.
  
  

Preparing the Tomato Sauce

• Heat oil in a pan and add chopped garlic. Fry on medium heat till it changes it colour to golden brown.
  
  
  
• Add chopped onions and fry them till they turn translucent.
  
  
  
• Add chopped tomatoes and salt. Lower the heat. Cover and cook on medium heat for about 6-7 minutes.
  
  
  
• Add readymade tomato paste, Italian herbs and ground black pepper.
  
  
  
• Cover with a lid and cook on medium heat for another 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and keep this aside.
  
  
  

Preparing the Cheeses

• Chop both the cheeses roughly and keep them aside.

Assembling and Baking

• Preheat the oven to 200 deg C for 10 minutes. While the oven heats, assemble the dish.
• Put a layer of tomato sauce as the first layer.
  
  
  
• Cover it with a layer of fried eggplant slices.
  
  
  
• Top it with mozzarella and parmesan cheese.
  
  
  
• Then add another layer of tomato sauce, followed by eggplant slices, followed by cheese. Continue this way. The top layer should be that of tomato sauce and cheese.
  
  
  
• Cover the baking dish with aluminium foil and bake at 200 deg C for 20 minutes.
  
  
  
• Then, remove the foil and bake it for another 20 minutes at the same temperature. Then, remove it from the oven and let it cool on the kitchen counter (for at lease 15 minutes). Now, Eggplant Parmigiana is ready to be served. Garnish with fresh basil leaves before serving.
  
  

Notes about Ingredient Sourcing in Germany:

• Large Eggplants: Available in the vegetable section of supermarkets and Turkish shops
• Salt: Called Salz in German. Easily available in supermarkets. Read my article about salt verities in supermarkets to learn more.
• Olive oil: Called natives Olivenöl in German. Easily available in supermarkets. Read my article: Different Types of Oils in German Supermarkets-Explained to learn more.
• Refined Flour: Use Weizenmehl Typ 405. Easily available in supermarkets. Read my article: Understanding the different types of Flours in German Supermarkets to learn more.
• Tomatoes, Garlic, Onion: Available in the vegetable section of supermarkets.
• Readymade tomato pulp with basil: I used this (shown in the pic below). You can get this brand in Aldi. Other brands of the same product are available in other supermarkets.
  
  
• Italian Herbs: I used the one from Ostmann. It is called italienische Kräuter in German. It is easily available in supermarkets.
• Black Pepper: Called Schwarze Pfeffer in German. It is available in supermarkets.
• Mozzarella and Parmesan Cheese: Both regular and low-fat version are easily available in supermarkets.
• Fresh basil Leaves: Available in supermarkets.

Additional Notes about the Recipe:

The original recipe calls for shallow-frying the eggplant slices with a generous amount of oil. You can follow the original way if you like. Since I prefer cooking with less oil, I fried the eggplant slices on medium heat with very little oil on a nonstick plan. I brushed as little oil on them as possible. Then, I transferred them to the air fryer and fried them at 200 degrees C for about 5 minutes, and they were done.

Here is the recipe in printable format:

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