Servings: 8
Prep time: 30 miutes
Cooking time: 1 hr 15 minutes
Additional time: 1 hr 20 minutes
Ingredients
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3 pounds large eggplants, sliced lengthwise into ¼-inch slices
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2 tablespoons coarse salt, or as needed
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5 cups vegetable oil for frying
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2 tablespoons flour for dredging
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Tomato Sauce:
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2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
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½ onion, finely chopped
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3 cloves garlic, halved
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3 (15 ounce) cans tomato puree
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8 leaves fresh basil leaves, halved
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salt to taste
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1 ½ (16 ounce) packages fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced
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2 ½ cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Directions
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Place a single layer of eggplant slices in a colander sitting on a plate and sprinkle with coarse salt. Cover with a second layer and sprinkle with salt. Repeat with remaining eggplant. Place a plate on top and add a weight to put pressure on the eggplant slices. Let stand at room temperature for about 1 hour.
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Rinse eggplant slices under running cold water to wash off all the salt. Pat dry on all sides with paper towels.
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Heat oil in a deep skillet over medium-high heat. Dredge eggplant slices in flour on both sides and add to the hot oil, working in batches. Deep fry eggplant until golden, 2 to 3 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels.
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Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat; cook garlic and onion until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add tomato puree, 4 basil leaves, and salt. Cook, stirring often, until sauce starts to thicken, about 20 minutes. Remove sauce from heat. Discard garlic and stir in remaining 4 leaves basil.
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
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Spread a layer of tomato sauce over the bottom of a baking dish. Cover with a single layer of eggplant slices. Top with more sauce, mozzarella slices, and Parmesan cheese. Continue making layers, a total of 3 to 5, finishing with tomato sauce and grated Parmesan cheese.
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Bake in the preheated oven until heated through and bubbling, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let stand for 20 minutes before serving.
Recipe Note
Make sure eggplants are dried well, otherwise they won’t get crisp while frying and will instead soak up the oil like a sponge. Use ripe eggplant without seeds and salt them for 1 hour to remove the bitterness. Eggplant Parmigiana tastes even better heated up the following day. Use tomato passata if you can find it. Substitute scamorza cheese for the mozzarella if preferred.Nutrition Facts
8 servings per container- Amount Per ServingCalories592
- % Daily Value *
- Total Fat 39g60%
- Saturated Fat 15g75%
- Cholesterol 77mg26%
- Sodium 3313mg139%
- Potassium 1223mg35%
- Total Carbohydrate 31g11%
- Dietary Fiber 9g36%
- Sugars 14 g
- Protein 35g70%
- Sugars14%
- Protein35%
- Vitamin C22%
- Calcium995%
- Iron4%
