Fall season makes me think of comfort food. I couldn't remember the last time that I had made eggplant parmesan and went online in search of a recipe that was appealing and not too complicated to make. I found this one from Ina Garten. I had recently listened to an interview with her and wanted to make something from her vast collection of recipes, so I was happy to find this. While shopping for ingredients and seeing I needed 1/2 cup of basil, I bought a basil plant for $3.99 which provided me with more than enough basil for this recipe. What I especially like about this recipe is that it calls for a jar of marinara instead of a recipe for making marina, which saved me a lot of time. Another possible time saver would be to spray the eggplant with olive oil stead of brushing it. This recipe says it serves 6 but with a salad a bread, we had leftovers of four more servings, so I'll say it serves 8.
Serves 8
Ingredients
3 lbs eggplant, halved lengthwise and slice 1/4 - 1/3 thick
3/4 cup of olive oil
1 TBSP dried oregano
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 24-ounce jar of marinara sauce
1/2 cup julienned fresh basil leaves
I lb. fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
8 oz garlic and herb goat cheese
1 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
For the topping:
1 1/3 fresh bread crumbs (I use Panko)
4 cloves of minced garlic
1/4 cup of chopped basil or parsley
1/4 cup of olive oil
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Lay the eggplant in one layer on parchment lined (my choice for easy cleanup) sheet pans and brush both sides with olive oil. Sprinkle oregano, crushing it in your hands, then sprinkle with 1 1/2 TBSP. salt and 1 1/2 tsp. pepper. Bake for 15 minutes, then turn eggplant over and rotate the pan, cooking for 10 minutes longer.
- In a 10x14x2 ceramic or glass baking dish, spread 1/3 of the marinara sauce. Arrange a third of the eggplant on top in one layer. Scatter a third of the basil, 1/3 of the mozzarella, 1/3 of the goat cheese and 1/3 of the parmesan. Repeat twice.
- For the topping, place all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulse to combine. Sprinkle the mixture evenly over the dish.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 40-50 minutes, until bubbling and golden brown. Let sit at room temperature 10 minutes before serving.
