Eggplant Parmesan

Okay so Rodrigo had Eggplant Parmesan at a restaurant a while ago and it was super yummy! So I decided (per request) to try to make it.  Here it is! 

Ingredients:

For the noodles:

• 1 lb brown rice spaghetti noodles

For the cutlets:

• One large eggplant, peeled and sliced vertically into 8 cutlets
• 1 c. milk substitute of your choice
• 3/4 c. brown rice flour (or other flour of your choice)
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp dried parsley
• 1/4 tsp dried basil
• 2 cups breadcrumbs (make sure to use gluten free if you're GF)
•  

For the marinara sauce:

• 1 recipe marinara sauce

For the cheese:

·         Mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Peel eggplant and cut into vertical strips.  Spread your eggplant slices out on a cookie sheet or cutting board and sprinkle them liberally with salt, letting them sit for 20-30 minutes to sweat. Start boiling a large pot of water for noodles, and start simmering your marinara sauce.
2. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. From the cutlets ingredients list, mix together the milk, brown rice flour, apple cider vinegar, salt, oregano, parsley, and basil in a wide shallow dish until well blended. Rinse your eggplant slices and pat them dry. Dip them in the batter mixture until well coated, and then sprinkle liberally with breadcrumbs. Place on a parchment or silicone lined baking sheet and bake for 6-8 minutes per side until breadcrumbs are lightly browned and crispy. When you remove them from the oven, start preheating your broiler.
3. When your water has come to a boil, add spaghetti noodles and boil as directed on the package. Drain and divide evenly amongst 2-4 oven safe plates (or in a 9x13 casserole dish).
4. Once noodles, sauce, and cutlets are prepared, assemble your dishes: place the noodles on the bottom, top with about 2/3 of the sauce, add eggplant cutlets, the rest of the sauce, and then a layer of cheese. Place under the broiler for about three minutes until cheese is lightly browned and bubbling. Serve warm (if you made it on individual plates be sure to place them on placemats or trivets as they will be hot).

Instead of using mozerella cheese, you can make this “cheese” sauce.  I did not even try, mostly because I don’t even know what half of the ingredients are and I didn’t want to buy them all, but it looks good, so try it and tell me how it is!

For the “cheese” (recipe from The Ultimate Uncheese Cookbook by Jo Stepaniak)

• 1 1/2 c. water or plain nondairy milk (I used rice milk)
• 1/4 c. nutritional yeast flakes
• 1/4 cup flour (any kind, I used brown rice flour)
• 2 Tablespoons sesame tahini
• 2 Tablespoons kuzu, arrowroot, or cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 3/4 teaspoon salt

• To make the cheese sauce, combine all cheese sauce ingredients in a food processor and blend until smooth. Heat in a small saucepan over medium heat until thickened.

This is the final product.  It was quite scrumptious! But I’d have to say my favorite part was probably the homemade honey whole wheat bread that I made to go with it.  Here’s to being domestic…