Vegetable Recipes

Eggplant Parmigiano with Sausage (rev)

Eggplant is never better than in mid-summer, locally grown.  So here’s a classic dish with a few innovations.  First, eggplant is soggy if just sliced,
doused with EVOO and baked.  It only gets soggier when it is combined
with sauce and cheeses and then baked again as a casserole, which is what
we have in mind.  Second, according to The Little Woman, a robust
Italian tomato sauce must have some ground beef in it.  Third, mild
Italian sausage plays off admirably against the sauce, cheeses and the
crispy eggplant. 

So here we have:

EGGPLANT PARMIGIANO

See abbreviations, if needed

2          eggplants, sliced ¼ inch thick 

1T        coarse salt

1C        AP flour 

4           eggs, beaten

8oz       Panko or other bread crumbs

1C        grated Parmigiano Reggiano

3           medium spicy Italian sausage links

2T        EVOO

1          red or green pepper, diced

2          cloves garlic, pureed

1          red onion, diced

½ Lb   ground beef

30oz    canned diced tomatoes

6oz      canned tomato sauce

1T       Italian herb blend (oregano, basil, marjoram, thyme, rosemary)

6oz     diced mozzarella

FOR THE EGGPLANT: 

1.  Set up an “English Breading Station”:  (three
paper plates: a, b, and c)

      a.  flour and S/P

      b.  egg wash

      c.  Panko and a little of the Parmigiano Reggiano

2.  One at a time: Flour an eggplant slice, then transfer it to
the egg wash plate, then coat it  thoroughly in the Panko plate

3.  Place all slices on a sheet pan with parchment paper. 
Or on a sheet pan greased with EVOO

4.  Bake the eggplant in a preheated 425F oven for 30 minutes,
turning the pieces at 15 minutes,  and then remove the crispy eggplant but leave the oven on

FOR THE SAUCE: 

5.  Place sausages in pan of water and BTB, cool, peel and slice
into bite sized pieces

6.  In a large evaseé like pan, sauté diced onion, pepper and garlic in EVOO, to translucent and then hold 

7.  In a frying pan, sauté ground beef in EVOO, drain and
transfer to evaseé

8.  To the evaseé, add diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, S/P,
Italian herbs and then

     BTB, add sausages, then reduce heat and simmer
about 45 minutes 

TO ASSEMBLE:

9.   Spread some tomato sauce in the bottom of large buttered
baking dish

10.  Layer in half of the eggplant slices

11.  Add more sauce over the eggplant, then sprinkle with half
of the mozzarella

12.  Layer in remaining eggplant and some more sauce but don’t
drown this top layer

13.  Sprinkle with the remaining Parmigiano Reggiano
and the mozzarella

14.  Bake at 425F until bubbling, about 15 minutes 

15.  Brown top under broiler

NOTE:  The crispy eggplant takes a little more time, but it’s
worth it.

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