Eggplant Un-Parmesan

Fresh ingredients

I've had such good luck with the Mark Bittman VB6 book, why not try another one of his recipes?  This time I went for the Eggplant Un-Parmesan - vegan and delicious.  It almost ends up being an eggplant casserole topped with breadcrumbs, if you wanted to top with cheese of course, you could.  The recipe took a lot longer to make than I anticipated - lots of roasting and what not.  So, if you don't have 2 hours to spare, I would probably save it for another day.  I'm glad I made it and loved the leftovers the next few days.

Unfortunately, I was too busy cooking, roasting, slicing and dicing to take too many pictures, but I have a few.

Easy, clean sauce with onions, garlic and tomatoes simmered for awhile

I didn't follow the directions and cut the eggplant the short way - ooops!

Ingredients:

• 2.5 lbs eggplant
• 5 Tbs olive oil
• 1 1/4 tsp salt
• Black pepper to taste
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 Tbs minced garlic
• 2 28-ounce cans diced tomatoes, with their juice
• 1 cup chopped basil 
• 1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs, preferably course-ground (I used whole wheat panko)

Note:  I didn't have enough basil, so I just used what I could.  Would probably even be better with more basil though!

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 450 degrees and postion two racks so that they've got at least 4 inches between them.  Cut eggplant crosswise into 1/2 inch thick slices, arrange them on two rimmed baking sheets.
2. Use 2 Tbs of olive oil to brush the tops of each eggplant slice and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Roast the eggplant until the slices brown on the bottom and sides, 10 to 15 minutes; turn and cook other sides until crisp in places and golden, another 5 to 10 minutes.  When they finish cooking, remove from the oven and lower hear to 400 degrees.
3. Meanwhile, put 2 Tbs olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  When it's hot, add the onion, sprinkle with another 1/2 tsp of salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft 3 to 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1 minute.  Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes break down and the mixture comes together and thickens, 20 to 25 minutes.  Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.
4. Cover the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking dish with about 1/2 inch of the tomato sauce.  Layer the eggplant on top with some basil.  Cover with a thin layer of sauce and repeat until all the eggplant is used up; reserve some of the basil for serving.  Sprinkle with the breadcrumbs, the remaining 1/2 tsp of salt and lots of pepper, and drizzle with remaining tablespoon of olive oil.  Simmer remaining sauce while eggplant bakes.
5. Bake until the breadcrumbs are golden and the sauce has thickened, 15 to 20 minutes; let rest for 10 minutes before serving.  Serve hot, warm or at room temperature, garnished with remaining basil.

This really came out so good, very flavorful and I love the breadcrumbs as a sub for cheese.  I did feel like I needed a little more to my plate to make it a full meal, so I served it with salad and pesto toasts.  

Pesto toasts:

• Real whole grain english muffins, halved
• Topped with fresh pesto
• Sprinkle of parmesan cheese, if you so choose
• Broil on low for no more than 2 minutes

Looks pretty good, right?  Patting myself on the back...

Even though this took a while to cook, I ate it for 2 days after and wasn't sick of it! Play around with the recipe as you want though - add cheese, other veggies (zucchini, mushrooms, etc) whatever you think works.

Happy cooking, enjoy!

Love, Lizzie