Baked Eggplant Parmesan Recipe (and Video!) | Valerie's Kitchen (2024)

FAQs

Do you leave the skin on eggplant for eggplant Parmesan? ›

The peel of an eggplant is completely edible. However, as the eggplant grows bigger and matures, the peel may become tough and bitter. People often prefer to peel larger eggplants because of this, but smaller eggplants do just fine unpeeled. It ends up being a matter of personal preference.

Eggplants are known to absorb a lot of fat while cooking. A useful tip to prevent sogginess and greasiness is to salt sliced or diced eggplant and let it sit for an hour. This helps to draw out moisture. Next, rinse and drain any liquid from the sliced eggplant, then pat dry before cooking.

Remember, this is eggplant parm, not sauce parm. You want to do the most to protect your eggplant. Salting it to remove moisture before it starts cooking is very important (and letting it squeeze out excess moisture beneath the weight of a heavy pot for an hour is crucial, too).

Carefully rinse each piece of eggplant under cold water, making sure you remove all the salt. Drain. Step 3: Transfer the rinsed eggplant pieces, a few at a time, to a clean work surface and pat dry with paper towel.

All the eggplant slices sweat: Place the seasoned eggplant in a colander for 30 minutes to an hour. Once little droplets of moisture start to appear, rinse your eggplant slices under cold water to remove excess salt.

Salt the Eggplant

Salting the slices for eggplant Parmesan is not to prevent bitter flavors, but to season the eggplant itself and, at least in my experience, keep the eggplant from sucking up too much of the olive oil from frying.

Not necessarily; it depends on what you're looking for in the finished dish. Though salting works when you want the eggplant to be creamy and tender — such as with parmigiana — in those cases where you want the eggplant to retain its shape and have a slightly firmer texture — such as ratatouille — you can skip it.

Eggplant contains a lot of water, so it's no wonder it can become soggy. Baking this eggplant parmesan dish uncovered allows moisture to escape so the final dish won't be too water-logged.

Eggplant roasting problems!

The key to fix this is simple: cut into large pieces – smaller pieces cook too quickly and turn into mush before the outside has a chance to caramelise; and. roast at a high temperature so the surface gets “sealed” and holds in the juice inside.

Why is my baked eggplant tough? ›

Undercooking It

Undercook them and you'll be left with a bitter-tasting veggie that has the texture of a cotton ball, says Norton. "Most recipes can accurately predict how much time it will take for eggplants to fully cook. Go for a 15 minute minimum with thin slices of tender eggplant varieties," she says.

While the skin of a small young eggplant is edible, the skin becomes bitter on larger or older eggplants and should be peeled. When in doubt, the answer to, "Do you peel eggplant before cooking?" is yes, peel it. Use a vegetable peeler or paring knife to remove the skin.

While the skin of a small young eggplant is edible, the skin becomes bitter on larger or older eggplants and should be peeled. When in doubt, the answer to, "Do you peel eggplant before cooking?" is yes, peel it. Use a vegetable peeler or paring knife to remove the skin.

The skin is edible, so you can leave it on when preparing eggplant. Cut off the stem and then cut into your desired shape—slices and cubes are popular options. Cut off and discard any parts that are turning brown. Those parts are more bitter than the normally creamy white interior.

Aside from its green top, the entire eggplant is edible: its purple skin, its white flesh, and the tiny seeds inside. Eggplant contains protein, fiber, and a wide range of vitamins and minerals as well as some antioxidants. Eggplant should be cooked before eating.

Modern eggplant has had bitterness nearly bred out of it, so many cooks have given up the practice. Salting the slices for eggplant Parmesan is not to prevent bitter flavors, but to season the eggplant itself and, at least in my experience, keep the eggplant from sucking up too much of the olive oil from frying.