Eggplant Parmesan a la Carrie

Wow! Eggplant Parmesan just went from a dish I reluctantly choose once in a while when I’m dragged to an Italian restaurant, to probably the best Italian dish I’ve ever had…and I made it myself! This is NOT your typical eggplant parmesan and that’s exactly what I love about it; rustic, not time consuming to make, and packed with flavor. No pan frying, no egg-wash and no 1.5” disks of eggplant slopped on your plate in the end. You will definitely want to try this one out, but FYI, this recipe is for two.


Feel free to blame Erik for the terrible picture. He left the house with the camera and all I had was my camera phone. Lame.

Time from Prep to Eating: 45 minutes

What You Need:
A clear 8x8 baking dish and a medium mixing bowl.

The Stuff:
1 small eggplant, cut lengthwise once then halved again, finish by cutting each quarter into 1” cubes
½ cup un-seasoned Panko bread crumbs
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
½ tsp garlic powder
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp cracked black pepper
1 ¼ cup of the tomato sauce I reserved from the Garlic, Salami, and Tomatoes with Pasta recipe
Roughly half of an 8 ounce package of sliced Mozzarella cheese
Basil, hand torn

Here’s What You Do:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and lightly coat the baking dish with any nonstick cooking spray.

In the meantime, mix the Panko bread crumbs, Italian Seasoning, garlic powder, salt and pepper in the mixing bowl, then add and toss the cubed eggplant. It’s totally okay if the bread crumbs don’t stick entirely to all sides of the eggplant…the end result of this imperfection is amazing! Pour the entire mixture (including the extra bread crumbs) into the baking dish and evenly spread the tomato sauce on top. Bake in the oven for 25 minutes.

Remove dish from the oven and place 1 even layer of cheese on top. Place the dish back in the oven and broil for roughly 2 minutes until brown and bubbly.

Pair with any pasta of choice. YUM! Enjoy!!