If you think eggplant parmesan is a difficult dish to make…
you’re wrong. The simplicity of this dish is, in my opinion, what makes it so great. Eggplant rounds are shallow fried, which brings out that luscious texture that a well-cooked eggplant unlocks. This recipe does not use bread crumbs, which makes it less involved than some other recipes (and gluten free if you’re into that sort of thing). Once fried, the eggplant is stacked (as the name precludes) with layers of mozzarella, placed under the broiler and left to get super melty. Finish with my Simplest Sauce Ever, which is the perfect red-sauce compliment to this rich dish. Serve it all with some perfectly cooked al dente pasta and you’re good to go. Now just imagine you’re dining al fresco nella piazze di Roma.
Fried Eggplant Parmesan Stacks (GF)
Serves 2
1 med eggplant, 8+ inches in diameter, ¾ lb of rounds ¼ in thick (approx 12 rounds, 6 per serving)
½ cup neutral oil
4oz salted mozzarella, cut into thin rounds (not fresh that comes in water but this kind
Coarse kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
½ cup Simplest Sauce Ever, more if you’re serving with pasta
Freshly grated parmigiano reggiano
OPTIONAL: Fresh basil, any variety al dente pasta
Start making your Simplest Sauce Ever if you haven’t prepared it already. Once that’s on the stove and simmering, rinse your eggplant and cut into rounds, skin on. Lay the rounds out into a single layer on a paper towel or kitchen towel. Sprinkle one side with salt to pull out some of the bitterness and excess moisture. After 10-15 minutes, press down on the eggplant with a clean towel to thoroughly remove all the excess moisture.
Cut your rounds of salted mozzarella and set aside on top of a clean kitchen towel or paper towel. We want to remove a bit of the excess moisture from the mozzarella. Place in a cool part of your kitchen, or back in the fridge.
To shallow fry the eggplant, start by heating ⅛ cup of neutral oil in a cast iron or stainless pan over med-high heat. When you see the oil shimmering, make sure your eggplant is thoroughly dry before adding to the pan. Shallow fry in batches, 2-3 pieces at a time making sure not to overcrowd the pan, until crispy and golden on both sides. Too much eggplant in the pan at once will cause the temperature of your oil to drop, and lead to soggy, oily eggplant, rather than crispy.
As you remove the fried pieces of eggplant from the pan, lay them on a paper towel to drain excess oil and sprinkle immediately with a little coarse salt while hot. If you want to serve this with pasta, start boiling some water and salt it generously.
When all the eggplant has been fried, turn your oven on to the low broil setting and grab your mozzarella slices.
In a baking dish with sides, stack 5-6 pieces of eggplant, largest pieces towards the bottom, alternating with rounds of mozzarella in between. For the higher tiers of eggplant, if whole rounds of mozzarella are too large, tear the mozzarella into smaller pieces and add just enough to cover the eggplant, letting the cheese stick out a bit at the sides to achieve that melt-down-the-sides greatness. Once you’ve used all your eggplant, cover the baking dish with a piece of foil, making sure to tent it up a bit so it doesn’t stick to the top layer of cheese, and put in the oven for 10 minutes.
At this point, add pasta to boiling water and cook until al dente. Start to warm your simple sauce on the stove top over a low-medium heat.
After 10 minutes, the mozzarella should have started to visibly melt. At that point, remove the tin foil, turn the oven on to high broil, and put back for another 3-5 minutes, or until the top layer of mozzarella is golden brown and other layers of mozzarella are super melty.
Carefully remove from oven and transfer to a plate. Top with a few spoonfuls of your simple sauce and finish with a grind of black pepper, freshly grated parmigiano reggiano and fresh basil, if you have! Serve alongside your al dente pasta tossed in simple sauce.