Now, I love eggplant. I love eggplant so much, we have six eggplants growing in our modest inaugural veggie patch in the back yard, all of which have been great producers this year. Not that I would know, of course, since the local bloody raccoons have tragically cut my little nightshade's lives short every single time- snapping their wee stems and half-heartedly munching their delicate aubergine corpses before discarding their half-chewed carcasses mockingly on my back yard table.
I kind of hate raccoons, the adorable little fuckers.
So, as a result of this, all summer I've been in eggplant withdrawal; stubbornly refusing to buy one when *any day now* I could be eating one from the back yard. With our roof being replaced and our eaves now no longer a Home for Wayward Raccoons, there are finally four good sized eggplant babies coming in unmolested. Fingers crossed.
So, coming across surprise eggplants in the green grocer rather undid me, I must confess and in a moment of weakness I took one of the shiny, dark purple beauties home. On a chilly moist October Sunday, this could mean only one thing.
Eggplant Parmesan.
I have been known to do a lazy EPP, coating the eggplant slices in sweet chili sauce and sprinkling them with vegan parm and breadcrumbs before drenching them in storebought sauce and throwing them in the oven for an hour...but today! Today I was resolved for a full on proper EPP, healthy vegan style.
Here's what I used.
1 large eggplant, sliced in to 8 pieces.
sauce:
2 portabello mushrooms
1 m white onion
2 cloves garlic
1 can Primo zesty sauce (embarrassing, sure, but the greengrocer has limited supplies. Mea culpa).
1 tsp cayenne
1 tsp paprika
2 tsp basil, oregano, marjoram, etc. Italian herbs to taste.
dash of liquid smoke
egpplant coating:
1/2 cup almond milk
1/4 cup GF flour (what I had on hand, I don't intentionally eat GF)
1 finely diced scallion
1 tsp black pepper
1 cup panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
pinch salt
vegan parmesan, often available at your local health food store.
Here's what you do:
Cut the eggplant into 8 pieces, lengthwise and then that in half and then those in half. OR, cut it into 1/2 inch thick rings. Lay these on a plate and rug a generous sprinkling of salt into them and set aside for 30 minutes to let those babies sweat. (grooossssss.)
While this is happening, get that sauce going. Sauté the diced onion and mushroom and garlic together in a splash of veggie broth or 1tsp of oil. When these are well cooked (about 7 minutes) add the pasta sauce and the herbs and bring to a boil. Add the splash of liquid smoke and stir well often, bring down to a simmer and let the flavours mingle! Taste often, just to be sure it's good. It's for science.
Whisk the liquids for the coating together and let sit; sift the breadcrumbs and the nutritional yeast together in a wide plate. 30 minutes before you want to eat, preheat the over to 450 for 10 minutes. While this is heating, coat each piece of eggplant with the milk and flour coating and then roll in the breadcrumb/nootch mixture and lay on a baking sheet covered in parchment paper.
Bake for 8 minutes a side, making sure that the crumbs are a nice and golden brown. Pull those babies out and lay them on a roasting pan. Put a generous dollop of the sauce on each one, and sprinkle about a tsp of vegan parmesan over each. Turn the oven down to 350 and let them bake for about 5 minutes.
remove and serve!
My awesome omnivorous boyfriend had seconds (and thirds). I say TRIUMPH.
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| EPP in the house, yo. |
