Here’s a story about what to cook for dinner tonight that’s easy: Looking at an eggplant that I needed to use, Michael suggested that I had never made eggplant parmesan. Well, actually I have made it a number of times, but it’s been so long and if he didn’t remember, I didn’t think I needed to go to all that trouble.
I love eggplant parmesan, but it’s too labor intensive for me to think about making it very often. Baking the slices rather than frying simplifies it, but a number of steps are still required to do it properly. I generally prefer making simple meals from whatever was fresh at the market.
So, I opted instead to treat the sliced eggplant like lasagna noodles. I wanted to buy some lasagna noodles the other day, but the pasta aisle was too crowded, so I skipped it and decided this was what to cook for dinner tonight: easy!
Preparation
I do think it’s worth salting the sliced eggplant and letting it sit out on paper towels an hour before cooking. It draws out some moisture and any bitterness. If you’re cooking a different variety of eggplant that is long and skinny, that step isn’t necessary. But the big, rounded variety works well for this dish. By the way, if English is not your first language, have you wondered about the strange name of this vegetable? As I have explained to friends in the past, it refers to the shape, not the taste. This conversation had us in tears with laughter.
Into a greased casserole dish, I laid out the biggest slices of eggplant and then proceeded to build them up in layers like a lasagna using:
- Jarred marinara sauce
- ricotta cheese
- mozzarella cheese
- parmesan cheese
- sliced eggplant
Repeat. In the middle layer, I put the no bake lasagna noodle that I did have. Then I looked for another vegetable to round out this meal and found a fennel bulb that needed to be used. So I sliced it up and scattered it into the baking dish around the eggplant slices in the empty spaces. Why dirty another cooking vessel? Work smarter, not harder and use what you have to create simple meals.
Covered and baked this for about 40 minutes and then uncovered for another 20 minutes. If you wanted it a little softer, you could cook it longer, but this is what worked for me. Simple and delicious…and my husband still referred to it as eggplant parmesan. 😂
Tender fennel is also delicious raw. See Meet the Beets for one suggestion.
Egg-plant…..:) because it shaped like a egg but its a plant. haha
I love fennel! I forgot about it!!
oh man! thanks for this!!!! i love eggplant but same with me, too much work for the correct dish but this will do it!! but salt and letting it sit on paper towel i see a must still!
so it really did not need to be fried or baked 1st? Intriguing and yum.
Texture is different than the breaded version, but still delightful. Enjoy!