My husband loves eggplant so much that he and a friend joked about starting a religious cult that “worshiped eggplants”. They, in turn, would be the “followers of the eggplant”. I decided to be a nice wife, for once (!), and make him a delicious eggplant “parmigiana” because we don’t eat out very much and it was his favorite thing to order. After spending the day socializing our cats, cooking sounded like a lot of fun!
The influence of the great eggplant, perhaps?
Sauce
2 medium tomatoes
5 cloves garlic (less if garlic isn’t your thing!)
5 large fresh basil leaves
1 tbs water
dash of salt and black pepper
1/4 onion, diced
1 tbs vegetable oil
5 white mushrooms, halved or chopped
Combine tomatoes, garlic, basil, and water in a food processor. Blend well. Put oil into a medium saucepan and saute the onions until they become transparent. Add mushrooms and saute until they turn brown. Add the tomato sauce and bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer.
Eggplant
2 slices of bread or 1 bun
2 tbs nutritional yeast
1 medium-large eggplant
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
dash of salt, pepper, and oregano
3/4 cup daiya mozzarella cheese
Tear bread and place into a food processor. Use the crumb setting (if you have it) to grind the bread into crumbs. Place the crumbs onto a cookie tray and set the oven to broil. Cook for 5 minutes or until they turn a golden brown. While you toast your bread crumbs, place the applesauce, salt, black pepper, and oregano into a large mixing bowl. Remove the bread crumbs and allow to cool. Mix the nutritional yeast into the bread crumbs.
Once the applesauce and bread crumbs are ready, slice your eggplant into 1/2 inch slices. You can slice it by length or width, just make sure they are a 1/2 inch thick. Lightly rub salt over each slice to prevent them from oxidizing (going brown). Begin heating a large frying pan on medium-high temperature. Pour enough vegetable oil to thinly coat the bottom of the frying pan.
Dip each piece of eggplant into the applesauce (both sides), then dip into the bread crumbs (both sides) until it is well-coated. Place the slices into the frying pan and let them cook on both sides for about 5 minutes or until golden-brown.
If you are frying multiple pieces of eggplant, place the cooked slices on a piece of paper towel to cool while you finish cooking the rest of the eggplant.
Preheat the oven to 350 F. Place eggplant on the bottom of a casserole dish. Cover lightly in sauce, and then add a layer of Daiya cheese. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
I am a “cheese” obsessed woman these days! This is a nice change, but it does take a while to prep and cook so if you’re looking for a fast dinner this one is not for you. My husband did, literally, squeal with delight when he saw what was for dinner. If you have an eggplant lover this one is for you!
enjoy x
