It's that time of year when my kitchen is bursting at the seams with vegetables and I'm doing my best to keep things interesting. A few years ago, when I began hoarding seeds, I decided to try my hand at eggplants (get your mind out of the gutter). To be transparent, most of my family is pretty into gardening and I'd never once seen an eggplant growing in real life. I therefore assumed that either they were really low yielding, too much work, or simply do not grow in the PacNW. I've grown quite a few things that don't grow well in the maritime PacNW, e.g. my olive tree that has grown a total of 2 inches in 4 years, so I figured might as well try it out and if worst came to worst, I'm out like $4 on a pack of eggplant seeds.
I started the seeds in early March and transplanted them into 5 gallon nursery pots in late May, and lo and behold a few months later I had a half a dozen eggplants 🤯. Per usual, I didn't really have a well formed plan for what I was going to do with the eggplants and had limited experience actually cooking with them or at least successfully cooking with them. They often turned into a big, mushy mess and I found the store bought eggplants to be more like a flavorless sponge. So why you ask did I decide to grow these eggplants? Because I could and they looked pretty cool on the online seed store. Fast forward a few years and I've grown a variety of eggplants and have convinced others to make it a garden staple too - do it, do it, do it!
In case you were curious as to what an eggplant looks like... On the left is the Amadeo Eggplant which is a more traditional purple eggplant, but tends to be denser and more flavorful than the ones you will get in the store. On the right is a Rosa Bianca Eggplant, which has lot of flowers, but no fruits to show so far this year - will post some pics of the pretty purple and white fruits once they've formed. The plants reach about 2-3 ft in height and benefit from some sort of staking or caging as they become quite heavy from the fruits in August and September.
Recipe
Most of us aren't strangers to the Italian staple eggplant parmesan, and it often feels like it is that one vegetarian option at every gathering. While this admittedly is not the most innovative way to use an eggplant, it certainly is one of the most delicious ways.
Ingredients:
1 Medium eggplant
4-5 Slices of havarti cheese - you can also use fresh or shredded mozzarella, but fresh mozzarella has high water content and can create the 'mushy' effect we are trying to avoid
Grated parmesan
2 cups Italian panko (or regular) breadcrumbs
2 large eggs
2-3 Tbsp milk
1/2 cup of flour
Marinara sauce - I'll post a marinara recipe at a later date if you are feeling ambitious
Black pepper (optional)
Garlic powder (optional)
Regular or spray canola oil
1. The first step to achieving a non-mushy eggplant parm is removing as much moisture as possible from the slices you are going to cook. An hour before starting to cook, slice the eggplant horizontally and sprinkle the slices with salt on both sides and let sit for an hour. Then pat the slices dry with a paper towel on both sides.
2. In 3 separate bowls place the ingredients for dredging the eggplant before frying:
Bowl 1: Mix the flour, garlic powder (optional), and pepper (optional)
Bowl 2: Beat 2 eggs and add combine with milk
Bowl 3: Place Italian panko or breadcrumbs
For each slice coat both sides starting in Bowl 1 -> Bowl 2 -> Bowl 3 until all of the slices have been coated and are ready for frying
3. Place the cast iron skillet on the stovetop and turn the burner to medium, do not turn to high and then decrease the temperature, as cast irons skillets retain heat and this may cause the eggplant to burn when added to the hot pan. In parallel, set the oven to 350 degrees - be sure to use a pan that is oven safe as you will transfer it to the oven.
4. You can either place canola (or any higher smoke point oil) in the pan and fry, or you can use a canola oil spray on both sides of the eggplant. I prefer the spray because it drastically reduces the splatter and time to clean, but placing the oil directly in the pan will lead to a more consistent, deeper fry - pick your poison. Now place your eggplant slices in the pan and brown both sides, for me this took about 3-4 minutes per side, but will depend on how hot the pan is and the cooking mechanism - if frying with the oil in the pan this will probably only take 1-2 minutes per side.
5. Once the eggplant is browned transfer to the oven and bake at 350 for 5-10 minutes - depending on thickness. If you put oil directly in the pan, I would recommend draining it at this point before you move it to the oven.
6. Remove from the oven and top with marinara sauce and then place havarti and parmesan on top - the photo is pre-parmesan and I would recommend putting the grated parm on top of the havarti. Note: I am very sparing on the marinara, because I prefer a crispy exterior, but you can always have a side of marinara to dip the eggplant in if you prefer more marinara.
7. Set oven to high broil and place pan back in the oven and let cheese bubble and brown. As the havarti and parmesan melts it will create a nice crust along the sides of the eggplant and the bottom of the pan, but because it does not have as much moisture as mozzarella it will not make the eggplant coating mushy.
8. Remove the pan from the oven and let sit for 5-10 minutes. It is going to be VERY hot, so give it some time to rest so you don't burn your mouth off then enjoy!
Fun fact: eggplants got their name because older, European varieties were white or yellow and resembled an egg
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