Staying in on a Friday night and don’t know what to cook for dinner? Bored of that same old roti, sabzi, daal? Don’t reach for Swiggy or Zomato just yet! Because we have the perfect one-pot dish that’s just perfect for Friday nights at home. This recipe is inspired by several recipes I’ve read, so it’s a medley of sorts. You can make your own variation or swap out ingredients depending on what you like. I’ve also linked to a couple of eggplant parmigiana/ eggplant parmesan recipes below, for more inspiration!
I chanced upon this dish when I was wondering what to do with the overload of baingan in my refrigerator. Come to think if it, dreary baingan seems to be a long running theme in my life. I also had a ton of ripe, juicy tomatoes, some spaghetti I wanted to use up and a craving for comfort food. This eggplant parmigiana ticked all the boxes. Loaded with veggies, oozing with a delicious marinara sauce and topped with cheesy goodness, this is comfort food at its best. The best part? It’s really simple to put together! Let’s dive in.
First things first, a saucy saviour
This veggie loaded marinara sauce is the absolute bomb! You basically take a bunch of tomatoes and veggies like carrots, zucchini, bell pepper, pumpkin. Bung everything into a blender. Then all you need to do is heat up some olive oil and add some onion and garlic. Sauté for a couple of minutes before adding your veggie-tomatoey puree. Season with salt, pepper, oregano and chilli flakes, if you like a hint of heat. Bring this to a boil on medium-low heat, stirring it often. Once it boils, let it simmer for 20-30 minutes. At this point you can add in a little water, or milk, or cream, or a mix of all three to get the consistency you want. Finally, add in chopped fresh herbs. I love mine with fresh basil, oregano or rosemary. Or all three!
For our family of four, I usually take:
- 8 ripe, juicy tomatoes
- 1 medium carrot
- 1 small cup pumpkin
- 2 bell peppers (red/ yellow work best)
- Half a zucchini
- 2 onions
- Loads of garlic, or as much as you like
Next up, eggplant
While your sauce is simmering, prep the eggplant. Both your bharta baingan or long eggplants work for this. You could even use the small baingan, although I haven’t tried it myself. Slice your eggplant (round slices if it’s bharta baingan, long slices if it’s the long one). You want to make slices of medium thickness, not too thin or thick. Take some olive oil and add in some crushed garlic, salt, oregano, and chilli flakes (if you like). Season the eggplant slices well with the olive oil mix and pop them into the oven. I usually need to bake mine at 200 degrees C for about 20 minutes. But every oven is different, so you may need to tweak the time. Flip the eggplant slices over once when you’re halfway through.
And the piece-de-resistance…
You’ll never guess! Okay maybe you will, because I kind of gave it away at the beginning: it’s spaghetti! This is the hero ingredient that really makes this dish work for me. Once you add in spaghetti, this becomes a complete meal. So that does away with your pesky worries like ‘What should I serve with this?’ Or ‘What else should I make?’ The answer, dear reader, is nothing! Nada! Zilch! Because by adding in spaghetti, you have everything you need in one dish! So you boil your spaghetti like you usually do and strain.
And finally, dear reader, we assemble!
This is the best part, like my trainer says when it’s time for the post-workout cool down. First, stir your spaghetti into your marinara sauce. Check for seasoning. Ladle this into your baking dish in a hearty layer. Next, lay your sliced eggplant over the saucy spaghetti. We’re thinking gentle slices. Now, sprinkle over with generous lashings of mozzarella cheese. Or parmesan. Or burrata. Or all three. Seriously, I even made this once with Amul cheese slices and it tasted just as good. Top up with breadcrumbs. Bung it back into the oven (200 deg C) for about 20 minutes and broil for 5 minutes. Your cheese will be a nice golden melty brown at this point. Top up with some more fresh basil, if you like.
And dig in! Here’s to a Parmigiano Perfect Friday night! Or any night, actually. This recipe is bound to turn around even the most bleh day.
I’m sharing some more eggplant parmesan/ eggplant parmigiana recipes below from around the web. Do let me know if you try this out in the comments below!
Recipe Link Love:
- This is one of the first recipes I tried when I was cooking eggplant parmigiana for the first time. It has a detailed recipe with step-by-step instructions, photos and even a video
- From one of my favourite websites, this recipe is easy to follow
- Another favourite, I love trying out recipes from this site and this recipe hits the spot