I had a craving for this specific dish the other day and remembered that I had bookmarked this recipe from the lovely folks at Choosey Beggars a while ago. I included a handful of chilies, as well as extra spicy sauce, which was way to spicy for my liking. It’s been adjusted in the recipe below, so feel free to add more if you want more of a kick! The color is also darker than I’d like, because I went a little crazy with the dark soy sauce. OOPS.

For some reason, I expected this dish to be super complex, but it’s actually super easy to make! It actually tasted even better on the next day, so feel free to make extra to enjoy for a couple of days.

During my two year stint as a vegetarian (yes I was, and no I’m not anymore), I was happily chomping away on a eggplant parmesan sandwich when my friend asked me for a bite. Since I’m so kind hearted, I obliged – only to be accused of eating chicken! My friend was so convinced that it was chicken. It took me a good 5 minutes to convince him otherwise. The moral of the story – don’t share food.

Moving on.

There are so many delicious ways to prepare eggplant. This is another improvised dish that I ate with a side of rice. Makes for a good weeknight dinner, especially when you’re avoiding the oven like the plague during the summer months (like me!).

On our way to lunch on Saturday in Astoria, we passed by this grocery store called Tomato. It was one of those unassuming stores with produce outside. There were these beautiful, gigantic eggplants caught my eye – and for merely $.69 a pound.

I grabbed two of them and a bunch of parsley for $2.53! Even produce shopping is fun when you’re with friends I must go back there soon, especially since farmers markets are closed for the winter.

Eggplant parm is quite easy to make. Let me rephrase. It’s easy in the sense that once you are familiar with the steps, it’s hard to mess up. However, it is a time consuming dish so keep that in mind before cooking.

It’s not a 30 minute meal; that’s for sure. But neither are most of her dishes on that show!

Recipe: Eggplant Parmesan

Ingredients:

1.5 pounds of eggplant, sliced into 1/4″ slices
3 cups of vegetable oil
2 cups of grated Parmesan cheese
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 cup of bread crumbs
1 cup of all purpose flour
16 oz. of mozzarella cheese, grated
1/4 box of dry pasta
3 eggs
3 garlic cloves, minced
Sea Salt
Fresh ground pepper
2 fresh tomatoes, diced (optional)

Procedure:

1. Slice the eggplant into 1/4″ rings. Stack 1 layer and sprinkle with sea salt. Repeat. Let stand for 1 hour. This will help the eggplant sweat and get rid of the moisture.

(Can you believe all those slices are from one eggplant? )

2. After the hour has passed, using a paper towel, wipe down all excess salt and moisture.

3. In 3 separate dishes, lay breadcrumbs, flour and eggs. Whisk the eggs briefly to make it easier to work with. Now, get ready for the fun part.

4. Coat both sides of the eggplant by drudging in flour first, followed by egg, then breadcrumbs. This might take a while. As you finish dredging, you might find that the undressed eggplant slices are soggy. Wipe it down with more paper towels before continuing.

5. Heat oven to 375 F.

6. Heat up a frying pan with about an inch of vegetable or corn oil, then lower temperature to medium. (Olive oil is not recommended, as it will burn.) Cook eggplant slices until crispy, about a minute and a half on each side.

7. In a casserole dish, stack tomato pieces and sauce, along with a tablespoon of Parmesan cheese. Add mozzarella if you’d like. I just topped mine with mozzarella on top only but it’s really up to you.

8. Bake in oven for 17-18 minutes. While it’s cooking, you can boil the pasta and make the sauce.

9. For the sauce, saute minced garlic over low heat with a hint of olive oil. Then add canned tomatoes.

10. Plate and serve.

Eggplant is a watery vegetable so it has the potential to get very soggy, so the first step is very helpful in helping the eggplant keep shape.

Enjoy!

The weather is growing significantly colder by the day. It’s time to bundle up and wish for hibernation!! Well, before I start worrying about being cold… I’ll just enjoy the brisk air, beautiful foliage and apple cider!

This dish was created after picking up a lovely eggplant from the farmers market. I’ve never cooked with eggplant before so I thought I’d take an easy stir-fry route and experiment with more complicated dishes next time. Feel free to leave me your favorite eggplant recipe in the comments.

Let me just take a moment to say – if you don’t shop at farmer’s markets, how come? It’s SO worth it to go! Not only do you get the freshest stuff for a good price – you’re supporting local farmers. You seriously get the best of both worlds. (Shoutout to Hannah Montana!) If you live in NY, here is a list.