Eggplant Parmesan

Shout out to my mother in law, Tara, who recently gave us

a large batch of eggplants from her garden.

We made this with her eggplants and they were delicious!

Ingredients

·       1 medium eggplant (sliced as narrow as possible). 

·       1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

·       1 cup panko bread crumbs

·       2 Tbsp nutritional yeast

·       1 tsp dried oregano (or sub 2 tsp fresh per 1 tsp dried)

·       1/4 tsp sea salt

·       1/2 cups unsweetened vegan milk of choice. I used oat milk last time and it turned out great 

·       1 tsp cornstarch

PASTA + SAUCE

·       8 ounces pasta (such as linguini, but any kind will do, including veggie noodles or gluten-free)

·       2 cups marinara sauce of choice. Anything will do from homemade to store bought

Instructions

1.              Slice eggplant into thin rounds slightly less than 1/2 inch thick and sprinkle each side liberally with sea salt. Arrange in a circular pattern in a colander and place in the sink to draw out the bitter taste of the eggplant.

2.              Let rest for 15 minutes, then rinse and arrange on a clean absorbent kitchen towel. Top with another clean dish towel and lay a baking sheet on top. Place something heavy on top, such as a cast iron skillet, to thoroughly dry for at least 10 minutes.

3.              In the meantime, preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with foil and spritz with nonstick spray. Also, if making pasta, bring water to a boil in a large saucepan.

4.              Prepare your dipping stations by placing milk + cornstarch in one bowl; flour in another bowl; and bread crumbs + sea salt + oregano + nutritional yeast in another bowl.

5.              Once thoroughly dry, dip eggplant slices in flour, then milk mixture, then breadcrumbs. Arrange on the baking sheet and pop in oven to bake for a total of 20-30 minutes.

6.              IMPORTANT STEP: While the eggplant is in the oven, bring a large skillet to medium heat. Once hot, add 2 Tbsp olive oil (or sub avocado oil // amount as original recipe is written // adjust if altering batch size) and pull 3-4 eggplant rounds out of the oven at a time and sauté to give them extra crisp and texture. Cook for ~3 minutes on each side (or browned) and then return to oven to continue crisping. Do this in batches until all rounds are browned.

7.              While eggplant is browning in the oven, prepare marinara. I prefer to just heat the marinara on the stovetop and keep it at a low simmer while everything else finishes cooking.

8.              Once done cooking, drain pasta and cover with a towel to keep warm. Set aside.

9.              To serve: Plate pasta and cover with marinara, then top with the eggplant slices. If you have any on hand, some grated vegan parmesan makes a nice topper.

~ Courtesy of Minimalist Baker