Setting up the baked eggplant disks and topping them with sauce before baking again, taken by Allspice Photography LLC.
Baked eggplant topped with sauce and cheese, taken by Allspice Photography LLC.
Mom’s eggplant parm recipe, with sauce over pasta, taken by Allspice Photography LLC.
Mom’s eggplant parm recipe, with sauce over pasta, taken by Allspice Photography LLC.
Mom’s Eggplant Parmesan
Smgross1947
This is my mom’s famous eggplant parmesan recipe! She’s been making this for me ever since I was little. This is the non-dairy, lighter, baked version of the classic!
Recipe Notes:
- For the breadcrumbs, if you’re making this gluten-free, you can sub out the normal ones with the Italian seasoned or regular gluten-free version as well.
- As opposed to the two kinds of cheese I listed, you could also use Miyoko’s plant-based mozzarella block too. This is gluten-free, Non-GMO, and suitable for vegans if you’d like to sub this out for the Violife shredded mozzarella instead! For a substitute for the Parmesan cheese, we like using Pecorino Romano or Manchego cheese (both made with sheep’s milk), as the flavor profiles are super similar to Parm and they melt really well.
- *Stuffed eggplant parm version:
- During step #6 below, when assembling the bottom layer of the towers, place a spoon of sauce and a spoon of ricotta (or equivalent non-dairy cheese, I’d suggest goat cheese or non-dairy sour cream) on top of each eggplant slice, placing the second stack on top of the ricotta cheese. Then finish the rest of step 6 as usual, with the pasta sauce and shredded cheese on top, baking the same way as well.
- Prep Time: 30m
- Cook Time: 1h 15m
- Total Time: 1h 45m
- Serves: 7 people
- Yield: ~14 eggplant stacks
- Category: Italian & Pasta, Meal Prep
Ingredients
- 2 Medium eggplants
- 2 Eggs
- 1/4 c Water
- 1/2 c Italian seasoned breadcrumbs (can add more as needed)
- 1 1/2 pkg Pasta sauce, any flavor of choice, (homemade sauce also works well here)
- 1 pkg VioLife shredded mozzarella cheese
- 1 pkg VioLife Parmesan cheese block (shredded)
- 1/4 c Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 pkg Pasta (optional as a side to this dish)
Instructions
- Start by preheating oven to 350*.
- In a medium sized flat dish with raised sides (a shallow soup bowl would also do) place eggs and water in and mix with a fork or whisk to combine. In another medium sized shallow bowl to the right of the first, pour in the breadcrumbs. Drizzle olive oil on two cookie sheets, putting them on the other side of the breadcrumb bowl for easy assembly.
- Wash and cut the eggplants into approximately 1/2” disks. You should end up with about 28 slices after completing (about 14 slices per eggplant).
- Taking a piece of eggplant with tongs, dip to cover both sides in the egg-wash, then into the breadcrumbs to fully coat, placing on the baking sheet. Repeat this process with the remaining eggplant slices in rows of three to four, or however they best fit on the pans.
- Drizzle olive oil over the tops of the eggplant slices and bake in the oven for 30 minutes (or until golden brown).
- Once the eggplants have cooled down slightly, it's time to assemble the stacks. Starting with the largest pieces as the base layers, place eggplants in a baking pan with taller sides (a roasting pan or 13”x9” would do). Add a heaping tablespoon of pasta sauce and then 1-2 big pinches of the mozzarella and parmesan cheese (or cheeses of choice) to the top of each eggplant slice, topping with a smaller sized eggplant. Repeat the sauce and cheese steps with that piece, and continue until you have about 14 double stacked eggplant towers.
- Bake in the oven for 30-45 minutes or until the cheese is melty. This may not melt completely for the non-dairy cheese; may require 2-3 minutes on the "Broil" setting after about 30 mins. to brown it up.
- At this point, you could make pasta to go along with this, however, they're great on their own too! These warm up really well in the microwave and keep about five days in the fridge in Tupperware or Ziploc bags.
