Night 1 of the 4×1 meal plan! Learn how to Shop once, make 4 dinners!
This is a simple, recipe that doesn’t have you standing over a frying pan, frying eggplant! The eggplant is baked in the oven and then layered with tomato sauce and cheese. It is delicious and the clean up beats cleaning a frying pan!
Since I had the oven on, I roasted some other veggies I had, peppers, fennel, and Brussels sprouts an in a little less than an hour I had a filling, vegetarian dinner.
If you’re on Instagram, you can see the full recipe in my stories highlight “4×1” @chefjoannas
Pictures of the process are below the recipe for reference! Enjoy!
Baked Eggplant Parm Sheet Dinner
Ingredients:
Servings: 1-2 people
Time: 1 hour
Eggplant Parm-
- 1 large eggplant
- 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
- ½ cup Parmesan, grated
- sprinkle of red pepper flakes
- sprinkle of garlic powder
- sprinkle of Italian seasoning
- 2 eggs
- salt for salting eggplant
- ½ (8 oz.) sliced whole milk milk mozzarella
- 1 bottle, 25-oz tomato sauce (store-bought or recipe below)
Other veggies to roast-
- 1 red bell pepper, sliced thin
- 1 lb Brussels sprouts, halved
- balsamic glaze
- 1 large fennel bulb, sliced
Tomato sauce (if you choose to make)-
- 1 28-oz can Cento tomatoes
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 T olive oil
- ½ carrot, chopped small
- ½ onion, chopped
- 2 good pinches salt
- sprinkle oregano and dried basil (optional)
Preheat oven to 350 F.
For the eggplant, slice in ¼” rounds. Then salt one side. Line a tray with paper towels to place them on. Wait 20 minutes. They will start to “sweat”. Then, flip them over and salt other side for 20 minutes. After they have been salted, wash them under water to get rid of excess salt and dry them on a paper towel.
{In the meantime, slice the fennel, Brussel sprouts and red pepper. Toss the sliced fennel and red pepper some oil and salt and place on a parchment-lined baking tray. For the Brussels, toss with some oil, salt, and balsamic glaze or balsamic vinegar. It gives a nice sweetness. Place on the baking tray with the fennel and red pepper. When oven is hot, put them all in and roast 20-30 minutes or golden brown. }
Back to the eggplants. After rinsing and drying them. . . In a bowl, whisk the two eggs.
In a shallow tray, place the parmesan cheese, panko breadcrumbs and dried seasonings (red pepper flakes, garlic, Italian seasoning). A few sprinkles of each. Stir to mix well.
Then, line a baking tray with parchment paper.
Start by dipping one slice of eggplant in the egg, then, in the breadcrumb-cheese mixture. Press to make them adhere to the eggplant. Then, arrange on the baking tray. Continue with all the slices. You may need 2 baking trays. Do not overlap the slices or they won’t crisp up well.
Then, place them in the oven at 350 F for 30 minutes, or until golden brown and the eggplant is soft inside.
Take them out and then layer with mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce. Just put a small spoonful of sauce or it will slide too much.
Place eggplant stacks back in the oven for a couple minutes to melt the cheese. If you want a gold brown finish, place on a HI Broil and watch closely for a minute or so, or until cheese starts to bubble. Remove immediately if any smoke starts.
To make the Tomato sauce:
In a medium saucepan, saute the 3 minced garlic cloves, 1/2 chopped onion, and 1/2 chopped carrot in some oil and a 2 pinches of salt. Cook until onions are softened, about 5 minutes. Then, add the tomatoes with their juice. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 20 minutes.
Then, add the oregano and basil if desired. Using an immersion blender or blender, blend until smooth. Add more salt or a dash of sugar if desired. That’s it! Will last almost a week in the fridge!
If you’re using for this recipe, I would make the sauce first thing. That way when its done you can use it to assemble your eggplant Parm.
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| Roasting fennel, red pepper, and Brussels Sprouts |
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| Cooked eggplant slices- nice golden brown |
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| Assemble: eggplant, sauce cheese, REPEAT |
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| ready to go back in the oven |
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| after the oven- DONE |
