grilled eggplant parmesan

The time has finally come to share my Eggplant Parmesan recipe! Woohoo! If you are my friend on Facebook, I know you have been {im}patiently waiting… well, no more. Here it is! 🙂 Eggplant parmesan is one of those things that is delightfully delicious and simple in Italy, but is usually represented as a greasy, cheesy tower of mess here in the States. I am here to show you how to make REAL Italian eggplant parmesan, and how to make it even easier and healthier. Believe it or not, when made with baked or grilled eggplants, this dish is relatively low-fat, low-carb, and basically gluten-free. And vegetarian!

First up, the eggplants. You could fry them {my mom does!}, but honestly… who has the time? Frying these babies takes forever. Instead, I simply sliced them, seasoned them, and baked them. Much easier and you eat a lot less fat this way! Last time I made eggplant parmesan, I cooked them in my panini/George Foreman grill, which is another deliciously low-fat cooking method. In my opinion, the oven is the best way though, because you can put all your eggplants in at once and let them do their thing. It’s not as hands-on and labor intensive as frying or grilling.

The other two crucial ingredients of an Italian Eggplant Parmesan are the tomato sauce and the bechamel sauce. Surprisingly {or not}, copious amounts of cheese are NOT part of the original recipe. And don’t even mention ricotta unless you want me to slap you! I simply don’t understand American cooks’ fixation on sticking ricotta in every single Italian dish out there. Don’t get me wrong, I love ricotta! Just not in everything. 🙂 I promise this recipe is really simple, just a little time-consuming. Most of the time is hands-off, so please don’t be put off by it! Please make this and wonder why you haven’t been eating Eggplant Parmesan this way for years!