Eggplant Parmesan

Following my wedding cake that I was too amped to eat, the eggplant parmesan of my dreams entered my life while honeymooning 2 1/2 years ago.  It made its appearance at a cozy vegetarian restaurant in Madrid.  It’s probably more romantic to say that we happened upon this veggie nook entirely by chance, while wandering the evening streets of Madrid.  But alas, it was moreso targeted and hunted, after doing my homework to find this destination.  Splitting a week between three cities meant some degree of pre-mooning research.  Many a variety of eggplant parmesan has been dined on by yours truly, at and away from home, but I’m still oozing over this particular one.  This made my top-five meals of all time list.  It arrived by way of boat — a boat-shaped dish that is, accompanied only by a tiny mixed green salad.  I wish I had taken a photo of this gem.  In fact, the only photo I have of this post-wedding-veggie-nook dinner is this rather blurry shot, taken by our server.

Now, romance in the air or not, that eggplant parmesan was out of this world.  Recipes beyond recipes were tackled to recreate my Madrid dream, until I came across this one by Elise at Simply Recipes.  Her recipe is an adaptation of a New York Times recipe, making my recipe an adaptation of an adaptation.  The result is an eggplant parmesan that is the twin to the Madrid version.

I’ve made changes to Elise’s adapted recipe, but not many.  I 1) sometimes save money using shredded mozzerella instead of fresh;  2) in the winter, it’s dried basil instead of fresh, in the summer it’s home-garden-fresh basil; 3) use two cans of whole peeled tomatoes rather than one (I love sauce); 4) no flour – just bread crumbs; 5) double the garlic based on my taste.  Why breaded and fried?  There are few things that taste better fried and breaded than eggplant.  I always fry in low-heat olive oil, never artificial vegetable or canola, never ultra-high heated rancid olive oil.  Once I used coconut oil, but it overpowered the flavor of everything else, in an unwelcoming way.  It hasn’t been invited back to this dish.

This recipe isn’t one to throw together last minute.  It requires planning ahead – like 3-4 hours ahead!  The prep isn’t intense, but sweating your eggplant takes time.  If you’re making this for dinner, do so on the weekend and plan to start eggplant prep around 2 or 3 PM for dinner.  I’ve even left the house while the eggplant sweats, the first two hours of prep are extremely low maintenance.  Once the eggplant is *sweated out* though, it’s all hands on deck for a bit.  Then you’ve got about another 35 minutes of rest.  Red wine hour anyone?

Eggplant Parmesan based on Elise’s adapted recipe
Serves 8.
*Note: recipe has been updated as of April 2011 - after making about 100 times, I’ve tweaked further – changes have all been updated here.

2 large eggplants
Sea salt
2 28-oz cans whole peeled tomatoes: salted with basil (*Trader Joe’s is perfect @ $1.49/can)
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
Olive oil
1 generous cup fine dry breadcrumbs (grate any leftover stale or toasted bread – prefer sourdough or whole wheat) **I throw this in the magic bullet for quick, homemade crumbs, after a quick oven toasting.
4-5 large eggs, beaten
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese OR 1 “ball” of fresh mozzerella
1 cup grated high quality Parmesan cheese (I often use Trader Joe’s)
•(Summer) 1 packed cup fresh basil leaves OR (winter) 1 1/2 Tablespoons dried basil

1. Slice peeled or unpeeled eggplants  into 1/4 inch rounds.  Arrange one layer in the bottom of a large colander and sprinkle evenly with salt. Repeat with remaining eggplant, salting, until all eggplant is in the colander. Weigh down the slices with a couple of plates and let drain for 2 hours. The eggplant needs to sweat before cooking.
*Speed up the “sweating” by roasting the eggplant in the oven at 350 degrees F for 15 minutes – if time is not on your side.
*I prefer eggplant parmesan with eggplant peel on.

2. When the eggplant is nearly finished draining, prepare tomato sauce by combining canned (whole peeled now crushed) tomatoes and garlic.  Add dried basil to sauce, if not using fresh basil leaves in dish.  Set aside.
*I blend the whole peeled tomatoes in the magic bullet: strain as much of the “tomato juice” out as possible for a rich, thicker sauce.

3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

4. When eggplant has drained, press down on it to remove excess water, wipe off the excess salt, and lay the slices out on paper towels to remove all the moisture. Place bread crumbs in a shallow bowl. Pour beaten eggs into another wide shallow bowl. Place a large, non-teflon, deep skillet over low-medium heat, and pour in enough olive oil to coat the bottom. When oil is shimmering*, dredge the eggplant slices first in the beaten egg, then in the bread crumbs.  Working in batches, slide coated eggplant into hot oil and fry until golden brown on both sides, turning once. Drain on paper towels.
*If olive oil is smoking – it’s rancid, dump out, turn heat down, then try again over lower heat.

5. In the bottom of a 10×15 inch glass baking dish, spread 1 cup of tomato sauce. Top with one third of the eggplant slices. Top eggplant with half of the mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle with one third of the Parmesan and half of the basil leaves (if using basil leaves instead of dried basil in sauce).

6.  Make a second layer of eggplant slices, topped by 1 cup of sauce, remaining mozzarella, half the remaining Parmesan, and all of the remaining basil. Add remaining eggplant, and top with the remaining tomato sauce and Parmesan.

7. Bake until cheese has melted and the top is slightly brown, about 35-40 minutes. Allow to rest at room temperature for about 10 minutes before serving.

8. 30 minutes into baking, boil some spaghetti-type pasta (whole wheat) to be served alongside your eggplant parmesan.

We think eggplant parmesan is best served next to a mixed greens salad, garlic mashed potatoes, and a little angel hair pasta.  Delicioso!

As for Spain, it comes highly recommended, especially Barcelona – our favorite Spanish city.

And for that wedding cake?  We busted out the frozen top tier of it on our first anniversary, so I got to try some afterall.  Yes, it was one eventful year.