Baked Eggplant

Oh Autumn, how I love your harvest.  And your cooler weather and your rich hues that appear again a deep blue sky.  I also love the fact that I can use the oven without adding unwanted heat.  So, autumn is a perfect time to break out a Baked Eggplant dish.  This one is great for making ahead and baking later in the week.  It is part of our regular rotation in the fall and winter.

Baked Eggplant is one of those funny dishes.  I’ve played with many an assembly process and fallen on this one to be the best for flavor results.  We begin by making a batch of Super Easy Venison Tomato Sauce.  (Of course, it doesn’t have to be venison and it doesn’t have to be homemade sauce either.  That’s just what we use.)

Prepare the Eggplant

Next, I prepare the eggplant by peeling.  (I use a vegetable peeler.  My favorite is the Oxo.)  Sometimes eggplant can be bitter or tough, so peeling it is one of several safeguards in this recipe.

Layer the eggplant wheels on a kitchen towel and salt both sides.  Next, layer them between towels until they have all stacked up between the layers of towel.  This does two things.  One the salt helps to extract bitterness.  And, two, the excess moisture is pulled into the towels.

After year of inconsistent results when I tried eggplant bake starting with raw eggplant, I’ve decided that the extra step of roasting the eggplant (or grilling it) is a must.  I placed the eggplant (just eggplant, no added oil) on parchment paper in a 400 degree oven.  About 7 minutes per side for a total of 15 minutes.  This insures that the eggplant is cooked through and helps to prevent a toughness that can sometimes occur.

Prepare the Bake

Next, let the eggplant cool to the touch. You can prepare the baking dish while you wait for the eggplant to cool.  Spray a deep dish with cooking spray.  I like to use this oval casserole dish because it is deep; however, you could use a 9×13 pan.  Begin creating layers like you would for a lasagna.  First spread a layer of sauce.  Next, add a layer of eggplant.  Follow that with a hearty layer of grated mozzarella cheese.  Once your first layers are down, you can add another layer of sauce, eggplant and cheese until the eggplant is gone.

The top layer should be mozzarella cheese.  To that, sprinkle some parmesan cheese.

Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour.  After you take if from the oven, let it rest for a few minutes to set up.  It will be too hot to eat anyway.  Once it has set up, it will be easier to slice in nice pieces.  We served ours with pasta, but you certainly don’t need it.  A nice salad would do fine.

All that is left is to enjoy.

Prepare Ahead

This Baked Eggplant is a great make ahead dish.  I often make this on Sunday to serve later in the week.  For more ideas of things to make ahead, check out this post on Sunday Meal Planning.

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