Eggplant Parmesan

Somehow, this favorite of mine has not yet made it onto my blog. How has that happened? No idea. I make this dish fairly frequently but somehow taking a picture and writing it up never happened. A tragedy. I only hope that while belated, this recipe is good enough to make up for your long wait and welcome you to the world of healthy, homemade eggplant parmesan!

Although obviously usually a main dish, I actually usually make this on a Sunday night to take to work all week as part of my lunch. Unfortunately, my boyfriend is not a fan of eggplant. (I know, I should break up with him right now!) If I make it for dinner, I’ll be eating alone. So lunch it is! However, if you haven’t tried this yet, I actually recommend it. The dish keeps very well and is easily reheated in a microwave at work. So dive right in and make it for dinner, lunch, and anything else.

Difficulty: easy
Time: 1 hr



Eggplant Parmesan
Ingredients:
1 large eggplant, cut lengthwise and then into ¼” slices
2 egg whites
¾ c breadcrumbs
¼ c parmesan cheese
1.5 tsp olive oil
2/3 c sweet onion (such as Vidalia), diced
2/3 c mushrooms, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 6-oz can tomato paste (no salt added)
1 8-oz can tomato sauce (no salt added)
1 can (regular size) diced tomatoes (no salt added)
1/3 c red wine
1 tsp basil (dried)
1 tsp oregano (dried)
1 tsp Italian seasoning (dried)
1 c shredded low-fat mozzarella cheese

Get your broiler pre-heating and grease a cookie sheet with cooking spray.

Place two smaller bowls side by side. In the first one, place the egg whites and add ¼ c of water. Use a fork to mix well and whisk the egg whites until well combined. In the second bowl, pour in the bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. Toss well.

Take each slice of eggplant and dip it into the egg white mixture, coating on both sides. Lightly tap or shake off excess since you just want a light coating and not gobs of egg white hanging on to the eggplant. Dredge both sides of the eggplant in the parmesan mixture. Then, place on the cookie sheet. Continue with all of the eggplant but make sure the pieces are in a single layer on the cookie sheet. If you run out of space use additional sheets rather than doubling the layers.

Broil for 5 minutes. Carefully flip all of the eggplant slices. Broil on the other side. When finished, remove from the oven and set aside. Turn the oven to 350 degrees.

While the eggplant is broiling, you can get started on the sauce. Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add the onions. Saute for 3-4 minutes. Add the mushrooms and garlic. Stirring occasionally to prevent burning, sauté for about 5 minutes. The onions and garlic should be starting to lightly brown and the mushrooms should be wilting. Make sure not to burn the garlic.

Pour in the tomato paste, tomato sauce, and diced tomatoes. Stir until everything is evenly combined and the paste has “melted” in with everything else. Pour in the wine and stir. Sprinkle on the basil, oregano, and Italian seasoning. Stir to evenly mix and let the sauce cook (do not let it simmer or bubble) for about 5 more minutes. Set aside.

Now it’s time to assemble your eggplant parmesan! Take a glass baking dish and coat it with cooking spray. Place a spoonful of sauce in the bottom and spread out in a very, very thin layer to prevent sticking. Place 1/3 of the eggplant in the dish. Top with 1/3 of the sauce. Sprinkle on 1/3 of the cheese. Do this two more times until you have used all of your eggplant, sauce, and cheese with cheese as the final top layer.

Bake for 30 minutes until hot with melted cheese.