Real Food for Real Life

Sunday, January 15, 2012

Better without frying...

Roasted Eggplant Parmesan

I found eggplant on sale at a price that could not be passed up, so I snapped up four of these beauties without even knowing what I was going to do with them.  The cold weather meant something substantial and comforting, so thoughts drifted to Eggplant Parmesan.  But, I hate frying, so I thought I'd lighten things up a bit and roast the eggplant slices instead.  So, so glad I did.  This dish was elegant in its simplicity, and the taste was divine.  It tasted even better the next day (and the next, and the next)...yes, I had this for lunch for three days in a row, it was THAT good.  I didn't miss the pasta, but the boys stated that they would have liked some with the dish, but that will be up to you and yours.

Roasted Eggplant Parmesan

1 large onion, diced fairly fine
1 tbs. olive oil4 large clove garlic, minced
1 tbs. dried oregano, crushed
2 tsp. dried basil, crushed
1 heaping tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
coarse salt and fresh ground black pepper
1 28oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 15 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 cup dry red wine
4 large eggplants
olive oil
coarse salt and fresh ground black pepper
1 and 1/2 lbs. mozzarella, divided use

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.  In a fairly large pot, saute the onion in 1 tbs. olive over medium high heat oil until softened and just turning golden.  Add the garlic, oregano, basil, pepper flakes, salt and pepper; saute an additional minute until fragrant.  Stir in the tomatoes and wine and bring to a boil before reducing the heat and letting the sauce simmer while you prepare the eggplant.

Brush two baking sheets with olive oil.  Trim the ends and slice the eggplants into 1/2 inch slices and arrange on the oiled baking sheets.  Brush the top of each slice lightly with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast for 30 minutes, rotating the pans from top to bottom after 15 minutes.  Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees.

Spray a "lasagna" pan, or other large baking dish, with nonstick cooking spray.  Ladle 1/2 of the sauce into the bottom of the pan, spreading it evenly.  Layer in 1/2 of the roasted eggplant to completely cover the sauce.  Layer 1 pound of mozzarella slices or shreds over the eggplant...I used fresh here, but the bagged mozzarella "shreds" would work too.  Cover the cheese with the remaining eggplant, again arranging it to cover completely.  Ladle over the remaining sauce, cover the pan tightly with foil, and bake for 45 minutes.  Uncover the pan and layer on the remaining 1/2lb. of mozzarella...I did use the bagged shreds here...and bake uncovered an additional 15 minutes to melt and brown the top cheese layer.  Let the Eggplant Parm rest on the stove top at least 1/2 hour before cutting.  This made 8 large servings.

2 comments:

  1. I have just one eggplant in the fridge. (I couldn't resist at the store>) Mr. Rosemary won't touch it. All for me -- roasted!

    ReplyDelete
  2. That is a shame about Mr. Rosemary, but on the bright side, at least you don't have to share :)I'm fortunate that my family, even the Christopher, will eat (just) about anything I put in front of them.

    ReplyDelete

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