Vegan Eggplant Parmesan Recipe - Vegan Richa (2024)

FAQs

Should you sweat eggplant before making eggplant parmesan? ›

Salt your eggplant slices and let them sit for about 30 minutes or so on a large tray lined with paper towel! The salt will draw out the moisture, and the eggplant will also "sweat out" its bitterness. This step also helps to somewhat break eggplant's "spongy" texture.

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 92% water.

Failure to remove some of this water will results in soggy Eggplant Parmesan.

In the 15^th and 16^th centuries, cooking “Parmigiana style” simply referred to the practice of layering vegetables in casseroles. Some authorities insist that the name of the dish comes from the Sicilian word palmigiana, or shutters—a reference to the palm-thatched roofs that the eggplant slices resemble.

Why do you salt eggplant slices and then wait and dab off moisture? It is supposed to remove the bitterness. You can also rinse them in cold water afterwards. Many small eggplant varieties are not bitter at all even with the skin.

Typically eggplant behaves like a sponge, soaking up heroic amounts of oil when fried. The Terzo Piano chefs use this trick to prevent heavy aubergines: Before frying, soak the strips of eggplant in an ice water bath. They will absorb water and drop in temperature.

Making Eggplant Parmesan Ahead of Time

When preparing eggplant parmesan in advance, you will definitely lose some of the crispness of the breading. With that said, you can layer and assemble the eggplant parmesan in the baking dish, cover it, and refrigerate it overnight.

Of course that's assuming you're lucky enough to possess eggplant parmigiana left overs after your meal is done. Because it actually tastes better the next day after some overnight magic melding of flavors. If you're the preserving type, consider portioning your left-overs and freezing.

The USDA says food that has been left out of the fridge for more than two hours should be thrown away. At room temperature, bacteria grows incredibly fast and can make you sick. Reheating something that has been sitting at room temperature for longer than two hours won't be safe from bacteria.

Hand-breaded eggplant, lightly fried and topped with marinara and melted mozzarella. Served with a side of spaghetti. Available weekdays, 11am-3pm.

What is the old name for eggplant? ›

Translated into English as 'mad-apple', 'rage-apple', or 'raging apple', this name for eggplants is attested from 1578 and the form 'mad-apple' may still be found in Southern American English.

We recommend sweating eggplants, particularly before frying or grilling them over the kitchen stove, for a samfaina or ratatouille and similar. If the eggplants are not totally fresh it's also a good idea to sweat them as the older they are the bitterer they become.

Another argument in favor of salting claims that it draws moisture out of the eggplant's cells that will, in turn, block the absorption of oil during cooking. But we know from experience that a salted eggplant still soaks up quite a bit of oil. So, in the end, we're with Clee on this one: don't sweat it.

Method 1: Sweating Eggplants

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.

Sweating -- where you sprinkle the eggplant with salt and let it sit for 30 mins or so in a colander to get out the "bitter" juices. I always do it, but wonder if I really need to. I will say that the eggplant always seems more tender when I do it, which would make sense.