I am very excited about sharing this recipe today.
As I was driving home the other day half listening to the radio something or more precisely one word caught my attention. Eggplant. I love eggplants, specially the roasted eggplant taste, but I had not made them in several months. They were talking about Eggplant Parmesan casserole and ways of making the dish a little differently. I have to admit that even though I have eaten the dish I had never actually made it myself, in part because I hate frying, and also because it traditionally has a lot of fat. Some recipes just fry the eggplant in oil, while others bread them with egg and bread crumbs. Not precisely the most healthy way. The radio show gave me an idea as it was talking about grilling, baking or roasting the eggplant.
So with inspiration in mind I set off to try my idea. Roast my eggplants in the oven and then layer them with my Simple tomato sauce, mozzarella cheese, fresh tomatoes and top them with Parmesan cheese. I was drooling just thinking about it.
I bought two large eggplants, the small Japanese eggplants should work too, there were just the ones I could find.
Cut in half lengthwise and then place cut side down on a baking sheet. I did not use any oil so to avoid using it unnecessarily. I did not need it at all.
Place the baking sheet in the oven under the Broiler until the skin begins to curl. These large ones took bout 25 minutes, but the small ones would likely take about 15.
Let them cool down in the sheet. You will notice they will begin to leak water.
While my eggplants were roasting in the oven I made my Simple tomato sauce. I call it simple because it does not have a lot of ingredients and its easy to make, and not because I have a complex tomato sauce.
For this sauce I get a large (28 oz) can of whole peeled tomatoes and I blend it in the blender until liquefied completely. I do this because I have a picky eater who will not eat it if she finds tomatoes in the sauce (meaning small tomato pieces). But you can alternatively mash with a fork or potato masher and leave chunks in your sauce.
In a Caldero (cauldron) I add my olive oil and saute the garlic for a few minutes until it starts to brown, then I quickly add and mix in my tomato paste. Then I add in the liquefied tomatoes, mix well and then I season with a little salt and dried oregano. And that is it. Simple right?
For oregano I use the Dominican kind, which I recently found out is not really oregano, but false oregano or Spanish thyme.
Now that our eggplants have probably cooled enough to handle we will proceed with removing them from out baking sheet. I scooped the flesh from then skin with a spoon and place in a separate bowl. they will probably leak out more water, just drain as much of it as you can. You should have about 3-4 cups of soft flesh. Don't worry if there are a few chunks that are sill a little hard, as they will continue to cook in the oven a little later.
Next up we slice our tomatoes and mozzarella cheese about 1/4 inch thick.
Now we are ready to start with the layering process. Start with covering the bottom of your pan with the tomato sauce.
Then layer about half of your eggplant flesh on top of the sauce.
Next make a layer with the mozzarella cheese, then drizzle with olive oil, and add a little salt and dried (Dominican) oregano.
Then layer about half of your tomato slices.
Next we will layer the rest of our eggplant.
Layer the mozzarella and season again with olive oil, salt and oregano. And layer on top your remaining tomatoes.
Cover with your tomato sauce. you don't have to use it all, you may have some remaining. Go ahead, eat it with a spoon. You're welcome!
Then add your Parmesan cheese,and don't be stingy.
Finally put t in the oven at 350 for about 30 minutes, or until you're cheese is melted and sauce is bubbling.
And serve hot.
Enjoy!
Simple tomato Sauce
Ingredients
1 can (28 oz) of whole peeled tomatoes
2 Tablespoons of tomato paste
4 Tablespoons of olive oil
3-4 teaspoons of minced garlic
Salt
Dried Oregano (Dominican oregano is best)
Directions
· Blend tomatoes in blender or food processor until liquid, if preferred
you can also crush tomatoes with a fork or potato masher to have chunks in the
sauce.
· Cook garlic in the olive oil until it starts to brown, add tomato
paste and mix.
· Add the blended tomatoes season with salt and
oregano
· Simmer for 3-5 minutes
Roasted Eggplant Parmesan
- Servings 9
- Calories 255 per serving
Ingredients
Simple Tomato Sauce
2 large eggplants or 4-6 small (Japanese) eggplants (you
should have 3-4 cups of cooked eggplant as a result)
16 Oz fresh Mozzarella cheese (2 – 8 oz balls)
2 ripe Vine tomatoes
Parmesan cheese
Salt
Dried Oregano (Dominican oregano is best)
Olive oil
Directions
1. Cut
eggplants lengthwise in half, place cut side down in a baking pan, roast
in broiler until skin starts to curl. About 15 minutes for small eggplants
to 25 minutes for large eggplants. They do not have to be cooked
completely as they will continue to cook later.
2. When
done, place pan in wire rack and let them cool. Remove eggplants from pan,
then spoon the flesh out onto a bowl, discard the skin. Remove excess
water.
3. Slice
mozzarella and tomatoes thin.
4. Fill
bottom of Pyrex with the Simple tomato sauce.
5. Start
by layering half of the cooked eggplant flesh. Layer half of the
Mozzarella cheese slices, then season with salt, oregano and drizzle with
olive oil. Add a layer of the thinly sliced tomatoes.
6. Repeat
with remaining eggplant. Top with mozzarella cheese and season again with
salt, oregano and drizzle with olive oil. Top with remaining tomatoes.
7. Cover
with the simple tomato sauce. ( you will have some sauce remaining, save or eat)
8. Top
with Parmesan cheese.
9. Bake
in the oven at 350 degree for 30 minutes. Serve hot.
