Enjoy an easy meat free dinner with Eggplant Parmigiana
A delicious meat-free dinner that’s perfect served with a crisp green salad – and it’s so tasty you won’t even miss the meat.
Ingredients
3 smallish eggplants* sliced lengthways into 1 cm slices
3 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 brown onion, finely diced
5 large white or brown mushrooms, coarsely grated (about 1 1/2 cups grated volume)
700g jar passata
1/2 tsp each of salt and pepper
2 tsp dried mixed herbs
250g mozzarella, cubed
125g Parmesan, shaved or grated
Method
- Brush both sides of the eggplant with olive oil and lay out onto two baking trays in a single layer (a little overlap is ok if needed).
- Roast for 30 minutes at 200°C (180°C fan forced).
- While the eggplant is roasting, sauté the garlic and onions in a little oil until softened.
- Stir in the grated mushrooms, then the passata, salt, pepper, and herbs and simmer gently for 10 minutes.
- Remove roasted eggplant from the oven and set aside until it’s cool enough to handle.
- Take an 22cm square ovenproof dish and spread a thin layer of the sauce in the bottom (this is to stop the eggplant sticking).
- Assemble the parmigiana in 3 layers: each layer should have eggplant followed by 1/3 of the remaining sauce and a sprinkle of each type of cheese (put most of the cheese on the top).
- Place in the oven and bake at 200°C (180°C fan forced) for 20-25 minutes, until the cheese is browned and bubbling.
- Allow parmigiana to rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Serves 6
*Large, older eggplants can be bitter. Look for young, smaller eggplants that are glossy and firm with no wrinkles or splits to the skin. Bitterness can be reduced by salting the eggplant on both sides after slicing. Leave for an hour then dry the slices with paper towel.
Try more of our delicious meat-free dinner recipes:
Thai style sweet potato and leek soup
Eggs with spinach, leek and feta