Aubergine Parmigiana Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What to serve eggplant parmigiana with? ›

Serving Suggestions

This eggplant Parmesan recipe is hearty enough to be a meal on its own, but if you're looking for something to go with it, you can't go wrong with pasta (or spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles!) or good crusty bread.

1. Salt the Eggplant to Remove Excess Moisture. This is key to crispy results. Eggplants are 92% water.

Eggplant peel is completely edible but some people find the texture off-putting. For instance, when making eggplant parmigiana, I always peel it because that's how my mother did it. If I'm making baked stuffed eggplant, I don't peel it because the peel keeps the dish from collapsing.

Avoid using fresh mozzarella, as it can add too much extra moisture and make the eggplant parmigiana watery.

Cook as desired. Eggplants can be grilled, steamed, braised, stir-fried, deep-fried and roasted. For a smoky flavour, turn whole eggplants over an open flame on the barbecue or stovetop until the skin is charred, then scoop out the flesh. Choose eggplants with smooth and shiny skin that is even across the surface.

I tend to soak the slices in a bowl of water with a couple of tablespoon of salt for about 30-45 minutes. It doesn't have to do with bitterness, but I find that in doing this, the fried eggplant turns out less greasy," Jenkins says.

Why do you salt eggplant slices and then wait and dab off moisture? It is supposed to remove the bitterness. You can also rinse them in cold water afterwards. Many small eggplant varieties are not bitter at all even with the skin.

The USDA says food that has been left out of the fridge for more than two hours should be thrown away. At room temperature, bacteria grows incredibly fast and can make you sick. Reheating something that has been sitting at room temperature for longer than two hours won't be safe from bacteria.

Can You Eat Eggplant Raw? Luckily, the answer is yes! While the leaves and flowers can be toxic, the eggplant itself is safe to consume both raw and cooked, and the compound that some might be sensitive to, solanine, is only toxic when consumed in large quantities.

Eggplants are known to absorb a lot of fat while cooking. A useful tip to prevent sogginess and greasiness is to salt sliced or diced eggplant and let it sit for an hour. This helps to draw out moisture. Next, rinse and drain any liquid from the sliced eggplant, then pat dry before cooking.

Should you salt eggplant before cooking? ›

Older recipes call for salting eggplant to draw out the bitter juices, but today's eggplants are less bitter (unless very large), so salting is largely unnecessary. It will, however, help the spongy flesh absorb less oil and crisp up like a dream.

Place in the Refrigerator

Place the breaded slices of eggplant into the refrigerator for at least an hour to help set the bread crumbs before frying. I find that when I bread and fry immediately, I lose some of the breading, but if I let the breading set in the fridge, more of it sticks to whatever I'm frying.

Salt your eggplant slices and let them sit for about 30 minutes or so on a large tray lined with paper towel! The salt will draw out the moisture, and the eggplant will also "sweat out" its bitterness. This step also helps to somewhat break eggplant's "spongy" texture.

There's more than one way to freeze eggplant, and the method you choose really depends on how you intend to use the eggplant once it's thawed. Since eggplant has high water content, your best bet is to cook it (even partially) before storing it in the freezer.