The eggplant Parmesan is mom’s recipe, a recipe rich in flavor and tradition.
Baked or in an air fryer.
Baked or in an air fryer is undoubtedly one of my favorite dishes if made as it should be.
There is no original recipe for eggplant Parmesan, and indeed not only different regions, but every family has its own recipe.

Perfect to prepare all year round and even better with seasonal eggplants, it can be customized in a thousand ways and requires few and simple Mediterranean ingredients.

One of the great masterpieces of our cuisine, a dish full of flavor, tasty and substantial, prepared by baking a sort of pie of previously fried eggplants, tomato sauce, mozzarella, and grated cheese.

It consists of fried eggplants then assembled in layers in a pan with tomato, cheeses, and basil and finally baked.

Each one fills it as they like.
For example, my mom puts slices of cooked ham between one layer and another, and I do the same. While my mother-in-law, when she fries the (mulignane) as they are called in Naples, the more suitable ones for this kind of preparation are those long and light purple because they are sweeter and richer in water. She dips them in egg and flour before frying.

There is no perfect, certified, and filed recipe that can clear our ideas, but there are many tasty and delicious variants that have always been handed down in the family and have contributed to spreading this tasty dish throughout the national territory.

Your dinner will be tasty and appetizing, in a word unforgettable!

Difficulty: Easy
Cost: Economical
Rest time: 30 Minutes
Preparation time: 40 Minutes
Portions: 6
Cooking methods: Oven, Air Frying, Stove
Cuisine: Italian
Seasonality: Spring, Summer, and Fall

332.86 Kcal

calories per serving

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Energy 332.86 (Kcal)
Carbohydrates 16.59 (g) of which sugars 6.45 (g)
Proteins 13.23 (g)
Fat 25.02 (g) of which saturated 5.84 (g)of which unsaturated 12.77 (g)
Fibers 6.18 (g)
Sodium 750.46 (mg)

Indicative values for a portion of 200 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA^* and FoodData Central^** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.

^* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ^** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov

Ingredients

Eggplant Parmesan

5 black oval eggplant
28.2 oz peeled tomatoes (or tomato passata)
Half onion
6.3 oz smoked provolone
3.5 oz Parmesan cheese
to taste flour
leaves basil
to taste olive oil
to taste salt
to taste peanut oil (for frying the eggplants)

Tools

Pot
Pan
Colander
Tea Towel
Absorbent Paper
Baking Dish
Air Fryers
Baking Pan

Preparation

Eggplant Parmesan

Wash and trim the eggplants.
Using a serrated knife, slice the eggplants into even slices, then sprinkle with coarse salt. Stack the eggplants inside a colander and let them drain for 30 minutes.
After the indicated time, wash the eggplants under a stream of cold water and dry them well.
Meanwhile, in a pan, pour a drizzle of oil and add the chopped garlic and onion. Sauté for a few minutes, then add the passata, salt to taste, and let it simmer until you get a thick sauce; then add the basil and turn off the heat.
After the necessary time, rinse the eggplants under water and dry them well.
Coat the eggplant slices in flour on both sides.
In a large pan, pour plenty of seed oil, then fry the eggplants on both sides and drain them, removing the excess oil with absorbent paper.
Fry the eggplant slices in hot oil until golden.
Spread a little sauce on the bottom of the baking dish.
Place a layer of eggplants on top of the sauce.
Add slices of provolone.
Cover with sauce and Parmesan.
Continue until you run out of ingredients, sprinkling the last layer with a generous handful of grated Parmesan cheese.

Bake for 25 minutes in a static or ventilated oven preheated to about 392°F

Or … Place the baking dish inside the air fryer basket and cook at 392°F for 15/20 minutes
(I want to remind you that each air fryer and oven has its own timing, so check).
When the eggplant Parmesan is cooked, remove it from the oven and let it rest for 2 hours before serving.
Enjoy your meal.