Simple Eggplant Parmesan
Despite it being the opposite of eggplant season, I crave eggplant parmesan incessantly each winter. I mean, who doesn’t want an aromatic, cheese-stretchy, cozy casserole of ziti-like flavors, but without the heaviness of the pasta sometimes, right? But I never posted the recipe for it. The truth is that I wasn’t completely comfortable sharing the recipe because it’s not a True eggplant parmesan, or so I believed. It’s not breaded, it’s not fried, and there’s definitely no ricotta. Even the title of the recipe as it was saved on my computer was self-conscious: (Not Really) Eggplant Parmesan.
So what changed? Going to Italy this year! We ordered eggplant parmesan (parmigiana di melanzane) almost every time we saw it on the menu and do you know what would come out? A dish that looked like this — no breading, no crumbs, no ricotta. It made more sense when I read about the history of the dish from Emiko Davies which I’ll simply link to rather than poorly summarize (it’s fascinating!) but it also gave me the nudge to finally spring the recipe from my kitchen to yours.
Ingredients:
- 2 pounds eggplant, cut into generous 1/2-inch slices
- Kosher salt
- Olive oil
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 28-ounce can of whole tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- Handful fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup finely grated parmesan or pecorino cheese
- 8 ounces grated or thinly-sliced mozzarella