Eggplant Parmigiana (Parmigiana di Melanzane)
Updated Feb 09, 2021, Published Aug 22, 2019
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Eggplant Parmigiana (Parmigiana di Melanzane) is the ultimate comfort food recipe. Fried aubergines/eggplant baked in a dish with tomato sauce, basil, parmesan and mozzarella cheese.
Eggplant Parmigiana AKA Eggplant Parmesan or Parmigiana di Melanzane is one of my absolute favourite authentic Italian recipes.
The layers of fried eggplant, mozzarella cheese, and parmesan baked together with a simple tomato sauce just tastes like heaven.
I’ve been making this recipe for years now and I seriously never get bored of it.
Whenever I need something comforting it’s at the top of my list along with Tuscan sausage ragu, Italian Stuffed Cabbage Rolls and a good old fashioned lasagne.
There are a few stages of preparation to this dish but it’s all fairly effortless and we’ve got easy step by step photos plus a video to help you make it perfectly first time!
Trust me the extra steps are so worth it, I mean, nothing beats the smell of bubbling tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese baking in the oven, right?
Eggplant is like a vegetable sponge that soaks up a lot of flavour and making into eggplant parmigiana is the ultimate way to use it (in my opinion).
Table of Contents
Prepping the Eggplant
I’ve had a lot of people ask me if they need to peel the eggplant first and the answer is no.
There’s no need to peel it, in fact, the skin has a lot of nutrition but it can be a little hard to digest for some people so whether you do or not is entirely up to you!
Salting the eggplant first however is a step I don’t recommend skipping!
By lightly salting the eggplant first, it draws out a lot of moisture and prevents the eggplant parmigiana from becoming soggy or watery whilst baking.
Follow this step for the very best results (see photos 1-6 for how to do this).
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Pin ItHow to Make Eggplant Parmigiana (Parmigiana di Melanzane) – Step by Step
See our step-by-step photos below to give you a visual representation of the recipe. The full written recipe with our top tips (including storage and freezing instructions) can be found in the recipe card below.
The first step is to salt the aubergines/eggplant. Thinly slice the aubergines and place them in a colander inside a bowl or sink, sprinkle them lightly with salt and set them aside for 1 hour.
This drains off any excess water and helps with frying (photos 1 & 2).
Meanwhile, make the simple tomato sauce. Finely chop 1 onion and sauté in a little olive oil until translucent. Add the tomato passata (pureed tomatoes) and a small bunch of basil torn with your hands.
Add a pinch of salt and pepper, stir then let it simmer gently for 10-15 minutes. Set aside (photos 7 & 8).
Next, rinse the aubergines/eggplant under cold water to remove the salt and pat them dry with a kitchen towel or paper (photos 3 & 4).
Lightly dust them in flour, shaking off any excess then fry them in sunflower oil for a few seconds each side, drain (photos 5 & 6).
Top Tip: Once you’ve dusted a batch of eggplant in flour fry them straight away or the eggplant will soak up the flour and it can turn mushy.
Preheat your oven to 180°C/350F/gas mark 4. Spoon a small amount of tomato sauce into the bottom of a baking dish and spread it around, this will stop the aubergines from sticking.
Next add one layer of aubergines to the dish followed by a sprinkling of parmesan cheese, cubes of mozzarella, a sprinkling of pepper and a little more tomato sauce. Continue with the next layer until you have one top layer left (photos 9-11).
For the top layer, spoon over the remaining tomato sauce and top with parmesan and mozzarella (photo 12).
Cover loosely with foil and bake for 20 minutes then remove the foil and bake for another 20 minutes until nice and golden and bubbling on top.
Make it Healthier
This recipe will give you an authentic taste of parmigiana di melanzane but you can make it a little lighter by grilling the aubergines instead of dusting them in flour and frying them.
It still tastes delicious and is a great way to make the dish a little healthier.
Another alternative to mozzarella cheese is to use smoked scamorza cheese or smoked mozzarella…omg it’s incredible and gives the whole dish a wonderful smokey flavour.
More Italian Comfort Food Recipes to try
- Italian Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
- Eggplant Lasagna with Prosciutto and Mozzarella
- Eggplant Rollatini with Spinach and Ricotta
- Creamy Tuscan Chicken with Garlic & Pancetta
- Lasagna di Carnevale (Neopolitan lasagna)
- Italian Beef Ragu – A Classic Recipe
If you’ve tried this Eggplant Parmigiana or any other recipe on the blog please let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also Follow me on Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest to see more delicious food and what I’m getting up to.
Step By Step Photos Above
Most of our recipes come with step by step photos, helpful tips and tricks to make it perfectly first time and even video!
Parmigiana di Melanazane
Ingredients
- 2 large aubergines/eggplant, around (700g/ 1.5 lbs)
- 1.5 lbs pureed tomatoes (passata), chunky or smooth texture (700g)
- 1 white onion
- Small bunch of basil
- 8.8 oz mozzarella cheese, cut into cubes (250g)
- 3/4 cup Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, freshly grated (70g)
- 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- flour, for dusting
- sunflower oil, for frying (around 1/2 cup/125ml)
- salt and pepper, to season
Instructions
- Thinly slice the eggplant/aubergines then place them in a colander. Sprinkle them lightly with salt and set them aside for 1 hour. This drains off any excess water and helps with frying.
- Meanwhile, make the simple tomato sauce. Finely chop 1 onion and sauté in a pan with the olive oil until translucent and soft but not browned. Add the tomato passata (pureed tomatoes) and a small bunch of basil torn with your hands. Add a pinch of salt and pepper, stir then let it simmer gently for 10-15 minutes. Set aside.
- Rinse the eggplant slices under cold water and pat them dry with a kitchen towel or paper. Lightly dust them with flour, shaking off any excess then fry them in sunflower oil for a few seconds each side, drain on kitchen paper to remove any excess oil.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/350F/gas mark 4. I used an 11×8 inch oval dish but a rectangle or square dish around the same size will work too e.g 10×8 inch.
- Spoon a small amount of tomato sauce into the bottom of a baking dish and spread it around, this will stop the eggplant from sticking.
- Next add one layer of eggplant to the dish followed by a sprinkling of parmesan cheese, cubes of mozzarella, a sprinkling of pepper and couple spoons of tomato sauce (save 1/3 of the sauce for the final layer). Continue with the next layer until you have one top layer left.
- For the top layer, spoon over the remaining tomato sauce and top with parmesan and mozzarella. Cover loosely with foil and bake for 20 minutes, remove the foil and bake for another 20 minutes until nice and golden and bubbling on top. Let it rest for 5 minutes before serving.
Video
Notes
- Salt the eggplant – Always salt the eggplant before making this dish to draw out excess moisture.
- No breadcrumbs needed – Traditional eggplant parmigiana does not have breadcrumbs, flour is all you need.
- Eggplant thickness – Cut the eggplant around 1/4 inch (1/2cm) thick (don’t worry about being accurate, just keep it thin cut).
- Dredge then fry – Once you’ve dusted a batch of eggplant in flour fry them straight away or the eggplant will soak up the flour and it can turn mushy.
- Use high quality tomatoes – Use the highest quality pureed tomatoes (passata) for best results (low-quality tomatoes can ruin the whole dish)
- Prepping in advance – You can prep this whole dish in advance and store it in the fridge until you are ready to bake it.
- Leftovers storage – Leftovers will store well in the fridge for 3-4 days and can be reheated in the oven (covered) until piping hot all the way through. You can also eat leftovers cold with salad.
- Freezing instructions – You can make the parmigiana ahead of time and freeze it or freeze leftovers. I recommend using a disposable tray such as aluminum foil trays so you can bake it straight from frozen (180C/350F for around 1 hour or until piping hot all the way through). NOTE: if you freeze the parmigiana in a regular baking/casserole dish you will need to let it thoroughly defrost before baking.
Helpful Info for All Recipes
- I always use extra virgin olive oil in all of my recipes unless stated otherwise
- When I use canned or jarred tomatoes of any kind I always use Cirio or Mutti brands for the best results and flavour.
- All vegetables are medium sized unless stated otherwise
- All recipes are tested and developed using a fan (convection) oven
- Find out more about how nutrition is calculated.
- Check out our must have Italian Pantry Staples.
- You can also find all our Essential Kitchen Tools for Italian Cooking.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Delicious, I’m vegetarian and my friend who isn’t is staying with me so I wanted to make something we’d both enjoy. I made us the eggplant parmigiana and it was amazing . Thankyou I can’t wait to try more recipes.