Eggplant Parmesan Recipe
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The southern Italian region of Campania is known for its exceptional buffalo milk mozzarella and the many recipes the cheese inspires, such as melanzane alla parmigiana, or eggplant Parmesan. In our version, we bread the eggplant in panko for extra crunch, then arrange it over a bed of our Basic Tomato Sauce and layer it with fresh basil leaves and mozzarella.
Special equipment: A reliable candy/fat thermometer is helpful for getting an accurate read on the oil.
What to buy: Panko is coarse Japanese-style breadcrumbs, available in many grocery stores.
We used Japanese eggplant in this recipe because of its thin skin and sweet, delicate flavor. If this or any other smaller eggplant isn’t available, the more common globe eggplant will work; just be sure to then use a larger baking dish.
Game plan: Because of the variation in eggplant size, you may have to adjust the number of slices to fill the dish. The key is to have the same number of eggplant slices as mozzarella slices and basil leaves. When choosing your eggplants, shoot for about a pound total. That should be plenty for four people.
- 24 (1/2-inch-thick) slices Japanese eggplant (from about 2 medium eggplants)
- Kosher salt
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 1 1/2 cups panko
- 1/2 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
- Olive oil, for frying
- 1 1/2 cups warm Basic Tomato Sauce, plus more for serving
- 24 medium whole basil leaves
- 24 thinly sliced pieces of fresh mozzarella (about 8 ounces total)
- Position a rack in middle of the oven and heat the broiler to low. Place the eggplant slices in a colander set in the sink or over a bowl, sprinkle generously with salt, toss to combine, and set aside to drain for about 5 minutes.
- Place the flour in a wide, shallow dish and season generously with salt and pepper. Combine the eggs and milk in another shallow dish and set aside; mix the panko and cheese together in a third shallow dish.
- Remove the eggplant slices from the colander and pat dry with paper towels. Bread the eggplant by coating a few slices in the flour mixture. Shake off any excess flour, dip the slices into the egg mixture, and press them into the panko mixture; be sure to coat the slices thoroughly at each step. Set the breaded eggplant on a baking sheet and repeat with the remaining slices.
- Line another baking sheet with paper towels and set a wire rack over the towels; set aside. Fill a large, straight-sided skillet or frying pan with 1 inch of the olive oil. Heat over medium-high heat until the oil reaches 350°F on a deep-fat thermometer (the oil should be shimmering but not smoking). Add about a third of the eggplant slices and fry on one side until golden brown, about 2 minutes. Carefully flip and fry the other side for another 2 minutes or until golden brown. Remove to the wire rack and repeat with the remaining eggplant.
- Pour the warmed tomato sauce over the bottom of an 8-by-8-inch baking dish. Shingle 1 eggplant slice, 1 basil leaf, and 1 mozzarella slice over the tomato sauce, repeating until all of the ingredients are arranged in the baking dish.
- Place in the oven and broil until the cheese is melted, bubbly, and speckled with gold, about 5 to 7 minutes. Serve immediately with extra tomato sauce on the side.
Beverage pairing: Feudi di San Gregorio Greco di Tufo, Italy. Greco di Tufo is a grape found in southern Italy, and it produces wines that remarkably seem to be both rich and lean. In this case the roundness and medium body of the wine will seem proportionate with the eggplant and cheese, while its acidity and minerality will be a refreshing contrast.
I think this looks like a dish I could make and my family would love. I would even take it for potluck at work!
It sounds and looks delish----but---I agree with a lot of the other cooks It is not traditional Italian Eggplant Parm. I also am Italian and have made eggplant parm plenty of times--my family loves it. But I like to try new things and I think I will try this version Sounds good
who the feck cares?! its just another way of fixing it! I dont think anyone claimed it came from any nona's kitchen
I'd also prefer Sicilian eggplant, which is also delicate in flavour, but with the appropriate flavour to this dish.
you had me at the visual. this was incredibly good, traditional or not. changes: added 1T dried oregano to the panko mix and spooned extra sauce in between rows. thank you for this recipe.
Marcella Hazan would have a cow to hear eggplant parmesan being made with (gasp) Japanese eggplants. All wrong!
Aida- Thank you for responding. I meant no offense in my response, and I apologize if my comment was harsh. I should have explained why I wrote what I did- As a traditional Italian home cook, I honestly do not see much resemblance in this dish to what Italians in Italy or Italian-Americans here do at all. Here is what I would consider a culturally and historically accurate way to feature this classic dish: Melanzane alla Parmigiana is a dish of Sicilian origin, by way of the Arabs. The name, Parmigiana, actually has nothing to do with the cheese, Parmigiano- it is actually a word that evolved from Sicilian dialect. The eggplant used should be either the Tunisian/Sicilian variety or a small version of our traditional purple one, and always sliced longways. This is a layered dish, with tomato sauce (no onion in the sauce) and mozzarella (not buffalo). Traditionally, there is no Parmigiano-Reggiano in this peasant dish, as it is thoroughly Southern Italian, and parmigiano-reggiano would have been available only to the very rich citizens of the South, even as recently as 50 or 60 years ago. Sicilians would be more likely to use cheeses such as Asiago or Caciocavallo as their second cheese for this dish. The eggplant is sliced and fried in oil, but not breaded (though it is almost always breaded here in the U.S.), and layered flat in the dish. I have never heard of dredging in flour. Most often, Melanzane alla Parmigiana is eaten cold or at room temperature (a fact I learned when I visited Sicily for the first time at age 29). I am sure that your recipe tastes delicious. I just thought I would contribute what I have learned to be the history and method for making this dish.
vvvindaloo: while our presentation of this dish is not the most traditional (it is often served with the eggplant overlapping in a spiral) and we add in Panko to give the eggplant extra crunch, everything else is respecting traditional _melanzane alla parmigiana_. -aida
There is nothing even remotely Italian about this dish- the history, ingredients, method, and presentation are all wrong.