It’s no fun to use the word ‘lighter,’ but that’s kind of what this eggplant parm ended up being. When I got home from work, I had half the mozzarella I thought I had, and didn’t have it in me to dredge and pan fry all this eggplant. It was a Thursday after all. Nevertheless, this dish ended up being exactly what I always wanted out of eggplant parm – thick, chunky eggplant slices that hold their weight and don’t turn to mush in the oven. It’s cheesy, but I don’t feel like I’m eating a giant mozzarella stick with soppy eggplant hidden in there somewhere. It came out kind of perfect for us.

A Lighter Weeknight Eggplant Parm

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Prep Time 30

Cook Time 45

Total Time 1 15

Servings: 6

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

3 cups tomato sauce or marinara sauce
2-3 large globe eggplants sliced lengthwise into ½” rings
2 teaspoons kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
8 oz fresh mozzarella
4 oz grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (1 cup)
3 tablespoons fresh basil roughly chopped
1 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
¼ cup dry italian seasoned panko breadcrumbs

Method

Preheat oven to 400F. Leaving the skin on, trim and slice the eggplants into ½” thick slices. Season eggplant slices with salt and pepper. In a large pan, heat 3 tbsp of the olive oil over medium high. Working in batches, cook the eggplant, turning once, until golden and seared on each side. Add more olive oil to the pan between batches. The eggplant will absorb the oil, so ration the ½ cup with how many batches you’ll need with your pan – don’t be afraid to let them char in the pan a little without oil.
Spread 1 ½ cups of tomato sauce in the bottom of a 9×13 baking dish. Arrange half the slices in the baking dish. Top evenly with half the mozzarella, torn into chunks, sprinkle ½ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, 1 tablespoon basil, and ½ tsp crushed red pepper. Repeat these layers with the remaining tomato sauce, eggplant, mozzarella, grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, basil, and crushed red pepper. Cover the top layer with breadcrumbs. Bake in the preheated oven for 45 minutes or until the top of the eggplant is golden, breadcrumbs are toasted, and sauce is bubbling. Let it stand for 10min before serving. Garnish with whole fresh basil leaves if you want it to look pretty.

Notes

I had homemade tomato sauce on hand for this, but a store bought jarred sauce would work fine too. Pick something more tomato forward like a marinara, less funky flavored (basil, garlic, mushroom, cheese, etc).

For a quick homemade tomato sauce, sautee 2 garlic cloves and half a chopped onion in a small pot with some olive oil until everything’s softened and fragrant (add a pinch of crushed red pepper if you want it a little spicy). Add 2 28oz cans crushed San Marzano tomatoes, blend with an immersion blender until smooth, and let everything simmer for 10-20min.