Best Light Eggplant Zucchini Parmigiana Recipes

OVEN FRIED EGGPLANT OR AND ZUCCHINI PARMESAN

Steps:

• SAUCE: Coat bottom of a large pot with olive oil.
• Add onions, celery, and garlic and saute until tender about 5 minutes.
• Stir in canned tomatoes, paste, spices and wine. (optional)Taste of sauce is bitter you can add 1 teaspoon sugar.
• Bring to boil; reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour.
• Stir and stir and stir.
• EGGPLANT: In a gallon size zip-lock bag place flour, salt and pepper seal give a shake then add eggplant to coat.
• Mix eggs and buttermilk in bowl.
• Dip slices of dusted eggplant into egg mixture.
• In the same bag with the left over flour add seasoned breadcrumbs to it.
• Then dip eggplant into bag of seasoned breadcrumbs to coat them.
• Place breaded eggplant onto oil sprayed cookie sheets and bake in 400 degree oven for 10 minutes on each side.
• Cheese mixture: mix all together.
• Assemble casserole: Place some sauce on bottom of pan, follow with eggplant, then cheese, then sauce layering till all is used.
• Top with extra grated cheese.
• Bake in oven at 325 degrees for 30 minutes.
• Serve with crisp Italian Bread and green salad.

LIGHTER EGGPLANT PARMESAN

Steps:

• Start by making the sauce if you don't have any already made.
• Preheat oven to 450°F. Spray 2 sheet pans with oil.
• While the sauce simmers, slice the eggplant into 1/4 inch thick slices. Transfer to the prepared pans, it's ok if they overlap slightly. Season with salt. Bake for 20 minutes, turning halfway through until eggplant is golden.
• Meanwhile, in a medium bowl combine ricotta, egg, parsley and 1/4 cup of grated cheese.
• Put 1/2 cup sauce on the bottom of a 9x12 baking dish, add 1/3 of eggplant to cover the bottom of the dish. Top with 1/3 of the ricotta cheese mixture, 3/4 cup of the mozzarella cheese and 3/4 cup of the sauce. Add another layer of eggplant and repeat the ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese and sauce two more times, reserving the third layer of mozzarella for topping. Finish with 1 1/2 cups of sauce, remaining mozzarella, and the remaining 2 tablespoons of grated cheese.
• Heat the oven to 400F.
• Cover with foil and bake until cheese is melted and everything is bubbling, about 40 minutes.
• Remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes.
• Take it out of the oven and let it sit about 10 minutes before cutting.

EGGPLANT AND SQUASH ALLA PARMIGIANA

Steps:

• Trim the stems from the eggplant and squash. Slice the vegetables lengthwise, no more than 1/4-inch thick. Spread the slices on one or more cooling racks, dust with salt on both sides and let sit for 30 minutes.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a 2-quart saucepan. Add the onion and garlic and sauté on low until translucent, about 10 minutes. Increase the heat to medium, add the tomatoes, pepper and bay leaf and cook, breaking up the tomatoes, a few minutes. Reduce heat and simmer the sauce for 20 minutes more. Remove bay leaf and check seasoning.
• Rinse eggplant and squash slices and pat them dry. Dredge lightly with flour. Heat 3 to 4 tablespoons oil in a large skillet. Fry the eggplant and squash until lightly browned, in several shifts, placing fried slices on paper towel to drain.
• Heat oven to 350 degrees. Brush a 10-inch glass pie plate with oil. Spread a very thin layer of the tomato sauce in the pie plate. Add a layer of the eggplant, cutting slices to fit if necessary. Try to arrange them like spokes of a wheel. Spread a little more sauce over them, then the squash slices, then the mozzarella and another layer of eggplant. Finish with the remaining sauce, the Parmigiano-Reggiano and the parsley.
• Bake about 30 minutes, until bubbling and lightly browned on top. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.