I love eggplant parmesan but detest the deep-fried, heavily breaded kind that you get in a lot of restaurants.  I’ve experimented over the years and this is about as low calorie as you can make this traditional Italian dish without sacrificing taste.  Eggplant soaks up a lot of oil in the traditional preparation, so I brush them with olive oil and bake them instead!

Eggplant Parmesan “My Way”

2 med. eggplants, cut into ½” rounds

2-3 T. extra virgin olive oil

½ t. Cajun spice (optional)

Italian-style bread crumbs

Purchased spaghetti sauce

8 oz. thinly sliced mozzarella

½ c. grated parmesan

Sprinkle both sides with salt and place between paper towels. This draws out the moisture and any bitterness – leave them for about 30 min.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Brush both sides of the eggplant rounds with olive oil. (I put a dash of Cajun spice because I like a little more zip in about everything.) Sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake, turning once, until the eggplant is softened and golden brown, about 30 minutes total. (Remember, they get baked again.)

In a 9½” x 13” baking dish, spread spaghetti sauce to cover bottom of dish, cover with first layer of eggplant,

then layer mozzarella on top and sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

Dot cheese with sauce and repeat with another layer of eggplant, mozzarella, grated parmesan and sauce.  Cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 20 minutes. Uncover and bake for 10 more minutes until cheese is bubbly. (You may put it under the broiler to brown, but watch carefully!)

Do as the Italians do and enjoy with  a bottle of Chianti Classico!

Enjoy

Related posts:

1. For the love of eggplant She’s Cookin’s  recipe for Eggplant Parmesan was chosen as a...
2. Bon Appétit Challenge: Mario Batali’s Chicken Parmesan I started the Bon Appétit Challenge after seeing the...
3. Greek-style Eggplant Spread New readers (thank you!) may not know what a...
4. Meatless Monday – Roasted Veggie Lasagna One day, while surfing Foodbuzz’s “Daily 9”, a photo called...
5. Zucchini and Sundried Tomato Tart For my first ever professional photo shoot I prepared...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Tags: comfort food, eggplant parmesan, meatless recipes, vegetarian recipes

This entry was posted on Saturday, January 23rd, 2010 at 4:24 pm and is filed under She's Cookin', family favorites, main dish, meatless. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.