Food You Can Eat: Eggplant Parm

First things first: all apologies to Cousin Matthew for following his excellent Chicken Parmigiana recipe with this one. I had already planned to write this one up, and seeing as I’m currently eating this masterpiece I don’t have room in my refrigerator for another recipe right now.

A caveat before we get started: This recipe, including the sauce, is made almost entirely from ingredients grown in our garden. I do not expect you to be as awesome as I am, so feel free to buy your own sauce and eggplant from a store. I will only judge you a little bit.

Here’s what you’ll need:

Whole eggplant(s) – the number is dependent upon how much of this you plan to make. The recipe freezes well, so if you want to make a ton of it and portion it into little freezer bags for those days when you can’t bring yourself to cook something, this is a great way to do it.

Red sauce

Ricotta Cheese (20 oz per batch)

Mozzarella, shredded (as much as you want because cheese is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy)

Optional: Swiss Chard (just the leaves), sauteed.

Brown Rice Flour (trust me)

Bread Crumbs

Eggs, beaten

Salt

Pepper

Romano, finely shredded (yes, this is “Eggplant Parm”, but I use Romano because Parmesan is for weak people who have not yet seen the light)

Olive oil (a lot of it)

Cut off the top and bottom of the eggplant(s) and peel with a very sharp paring knife. The skin can get pretty leathery so using a dull knife or a potato peeler will generally result in a mangled eggplant and that’s just sad. Once your eggplant is peeled, slice it crosswise thinly. I mean very thinly, like less than a 1/4 inch. If the slices are too thick, then the eggplant will get slimy and friends don’t let friends eat eggplant slime. Yes, I said crosswise, not lengthwise. Cutting crosswise allows you to have more control over the thinness of the slices.

Get the largest frying pan you have and put about 1/2 inch of olive oil in there on medium heat. You don’t want it so hot that the oil smokes, but you want it hot enough to fry the eggplant properly.

A note regarding olive oil. Most of the oil you’ll find in grocery stores–yes, even the fancy square glass bottles with beautifully designed labels of the Tuscan countryside–are either rancid garbage oil, or not actually olive oil at all, but cheap, shit oil with coloring added. 60 Minutes did a story about this a few years ago and is worth watching:

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/60-minutes-overtime-how-to-buy-olive-oil/

If you’re in the US, your best bet for good oil is from one of the smaller boutique shops that started popping up like crazy about 10 years ago. These shops typically purchase from a single distributor that certifies their suppliers and provides oils from either the northern or southern hemisphere depending on the season. The oil costs a lot more, but wanting something good that comes at a cheap cost is how we got here.

But I digress. While the oil is heating, put together your egg wash and breading bowls. Crack and beat your eggs in one shallow bowl. For a single batch, you’ll probably need about 3 or 4 eggs. In another shallow bowl, pour in four parts of brown rice flour to one part bread crumbs. The rice flour is critical to the success of this recipe. Fried eggplant with regular flour has a tendency to get soggy after it sits for a bit and soggy eggplant is bullshit. The rice flour, combined with the thinness of the slices, allows the eggplant to retain its crispiness even after getting baked. Add the finely shredded Romano to your rice flour/breadcrumb mixture along with salt and pepper to taste and mix well. I also add a blend called Greektown seasoning that I order from The Spice House in Chicago. If you’re ever in Chicago or Milwaukee, I strongly suggest going to their store where they have an absolutely bonkers array of fresh spices and blends. There is simply no comparison. But, if you choose to live a life that is devoid of joy and wonder, then go ahead. I’ll sleep fine.

At this point, if you plan to use the optional Swiss chard, cut the leaves from the stems and chop coarsely. Sautee in olive oil until wilted and drain. It cooks down quite a bit so even if you got a pound of chard it would still work for a single batch.

After several minutes, test your oil by tossing a grain or two of your breading mixture in there and see if it bubbles. When the oil is ready, dip your eggplant slices in the egg wash, allow the excess egg to drain off the eggplant, then tap both sides of the eggplant in your breading and put in the frying pan.

Pro tip: if you don’t want to be wearing breading gloves after dipping your hands in egg wash and breading several dozen times, use a fork to handle the eggplant. Also, while the first round of eggplant is frying in the pan, prepare another round of eggplant with egg wash and breading to save yourself some time. This whole process can take a while to complete.

After several minutes, turn your slices over to fry some more in the oil. When the slices are a slightly golden color, remove them and place on a plate with a paper towel so the oil soaks into the towel and not into the eggplant because–say it with me–soggy eggplant is bullshit. Keep adding layers of paper towels between layers of eggplant as you go.

A word about frying in oil: when your oil is fresh, the eggplant will look deceptively undercooked. When your oil has gone through a few rounds of cooking, your eggplant will look deceptively overcooked. So, it’s important to get a feel for when it’s ready to turn over and ultimately remove from the pan. The system I use is to take a pair of tongs and gently grab the frying eggplant by spanning the tongs across the width of the slice and seeing if it will come out of the oil as a relatively firm chip. If it folds too easily, then let it cook some more before turning it over.

Also, depending on how much eggplant you’re frying, you may get to a point where all the oil is gone and you’re left with breading mixture that has fallen off and settled to the bottom of the pan. If/when you’ve gotten to that point, turn off the heat, wipe the pan down with a paper towel to get all the junk out, pour fresh oil in the pan and start over. If you keep pouring clean oil into a pan with a bunch of sediment in it, the oil will start dirty and make your eggplant slices too dark.

BONUS SERVING SUGGESTION: These can also be served as is, to be dipped in a warm red sauce as an appetizer–or just to eat until you’re sick–but do this while they’re fresh and hot. I always test a few while I’m making this dish. You know, for quality control.

Now it’s time to put the casserole together. It’s basically the same as building a lasagna. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Using a 9×13 glass pan, pour some red sauce in the bottom, top with overlapping slices of eggplant, then with the ricotta and mozzarella, then with the optional Swiss chard. Lather, rinse, repeat, finishing with mozzarella on top.

Bake for roughly 40 minutes or until bubbly. Take out of the oven and put on a cooling rack to sit for at least 10 minutes before slicing.

Serve with Ellicoo’s Panzanella Caprese Salad. I’ve been eating that salad all summer while my cherry tomatoes and basil have been producing and I am still very much not tired of it.