Time to prepare: 1 hour and 30 minutes
Click HERE to see Chef Chaza prepare this on YouTube
Anyone can make this simple but perfect main course star with flavors straight from Italy. This recipe comes from when Chef Chaza worked in kitchens along the Amalfi Coast in Sorrento, Italy.
Ingredients for Eggplant Parmesan:
2 x Large Eggplant
6 x Eggs (not 4!)
1 x Cup of Flour
2 ½ Cups x Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 ½ Cups x Smoked Mozzarella Cheese
1 x handful of Basil
2 ½ to 3 Cups x Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt
1 x Jar of Marinara Sauce *
* Click this link https://youtu.be/Gjs5WW78VcA for How to make | Marinara Sauce | Authentic Italian Red Sauce | Chef Chaza Smith
Cut the tops and bottoms of the Eggplant and then peel zebra style (half peeled half not).
Slice lengthwise (so they fit better into the tray). Salt each side of the Eggplant to remove the bitterness (salt will be washed away later). Layer Eggplant pieces with Salt, and set-up in a colander with a bowl to catch all the dark bitter water that comes out. Place a small weight on the stack of Eggplants to help squeeze out dark-water bitterness (a jar of marinara sauce works great!). Allow to sit for about 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to four-hundred degrees.
Set-up the dredging station; a cup of Flour with a pinch of Salt in one large pan or plate, break Eggs and mix them with Parmesan in a 2nd pan or plate.
After fifteen minutes of allowing bitter water to ooze out of the Eggplant, rinse the Eggplant and discard the dark (bitter) water then dry Eggplant with a little piece of paper towel.
Heat-up oil in a frying pan on medium-high heat. Begin dredging by coating a piece of Eggplant with the Flour mixture, then coating the same piece with the Egg-Parmesan cheese mixture. Then put coated Eggplant into a stack, or if ready, the hot Oil to fry the Eggplant.
Reuse any drippings that come on the plate
Fry them so the Parmesan and the Eggs do not get burned before the Eggplant is actually cooked all the way through, they will finish in the oven
When done frying the Eggplants start assembling into a large oven tray, laying Tomato Sauce and Eggplant. Between each layer of Eggplant spread a little bit of Sauce, a little bit of Cheese and a little bit of Basil, and on the very last layer spread a generous amount of Tomato Sauce.
Top with the Basil and the Cheeses then place in the oven for about 25 minutes, until it gets ‘yummy oowey-gooey bubbly the Cheese melts into the Sauce.’ Remove from the oven, allow to rest for 30 minutes, and serve!