The other night, I was going through my recipes when I came across one of my favorites, Eggplant Parmigiana. I never cared much for eggplant parm until I found this unbreaded version. It does have a layer of breadcrumbs on top, and the eggplant doesn’t turn into hard, tasteless disks. Not long after, I stumbled upon this Eggplant Parmigiana Shakshuka recipe while scrolling through Pinterest. A healthier version of my beloved eggplant parm? I had to try it!
The love child of Middle Eastern shakshuka and good old Italian fat-bomb, Eggplant Parm. But healthier, obvs. PS This MUST be served with garlic bread. 😉 xx
The Ingredients
My first step, as always, was a search through my kitchen for ingredients. I usually find several, but this time I had very few. All I found was olive oil, salt, pepper, and honey. That left me with a good-sized shopping list, but everything was easy to find at my local grocery store. I had a shopping cart full of fresh vegetables, herbs, cheese, and eggs in no time!
The Process
Like my favorite eggplant parm recipes, this one begins with slicing and baking the eggplant. Easy enough! I sliced my eggplant into thick pieces, placed them on parchment lined-sheet pans, brushed with olive oil, and baked for 25 minutes.
Lots of eggplant recipes include salting the eggplant, but this one skipped it. Letting the sliced eggplant sit for 20-30 minutes after generously salting it draws out any bitterness (it is rinsed and patted dry afterward). I have heard people say it’s unnecessary, and I have also heard it’s only needed for mature eggplant. While I was tempted to add it to this recipe, I decided to trust the process.
I prepped the remaining ingredients while the eggplant slices baked. There wasn’t anything difficult involved, just basic cooking skills. It was a lot of peeling, chopping, and measuring, and I finished it just before the eggplant timer went off.
Making the Tomato Sauce
Now it was time to get out my enameled cast-iron braiser and make the sauce. This step was done over low heat, so preheating was important. I added the leftover olive oil, set the stove to four, and set a timer for four minutes to make sure the pan was hot enough when I added the ingredients.
Step three covered cooking the sauce, and it was a simple process. The times listed were accurate, but there wasn’t one for softening the red bell pepper. I had to guess at that and they seemed to be softening around the six-minute mark.
After simmering for another 15 minutes, I transferred the sauce ingredients into my blender, added the balsamic vinegar, and pulsed a few times to blend. I’m glad I didn’t skip the taste test because it needed salt, pepper, and a drizzle of honey to balance it out. I didn’t measure, but I think I used 1-2 teaspoons of honey.
Tip: Pouring a hot, heavy pan into a blender was awkward and messy. I used a ladle to safely transfer the sauce ingredients from the pan to the blender.
Finishing My Eggplant Parmigiana Shakshuka
The eggplant had plenty of time to cool while I made the sauce, so cutting it into smaller pieces was fairly easy. Cooked eggplant can be delicate, especially the larger pieces with lots of seeds. The peel was the only thing holding them together.
Tip: I noticed the eggplant turning into mush when I moved it onto my cutting board first. Cutting up the eggplant on the sheet pans and transferring it directly to the stove gave me bigger chunks of eggplant.
Next, I added the eggplant to the pan, along with the optional spinach, sauce, and ricotta cheese. I stepped away to break the eggs into small bowls while I waited for the pan to begin bubbling. Once it did, I added the shredded parmesan with the eggs and covered the pan for six minutes to poach the eggs.
This step was several sentences long, and I almost missed adding the shredded parmesan! I added it after the eggplant, spinach, sauce, and ricotta mixture was bubbling, just before the eggs. I also think I over-mixed the ricotta, but I doubt it affected the taste.
Timing
This recipe didn’t list prep, cooking, or total time, so I’m using the times in the instructions for the time rating. I still kept track of my time, and this is how it was spent:
- 5 minutes to prep the eggplant
- 25 minutes to bake the eggplant
- 20 minutes for remaining prep work
- 5 minutes to cup up the eggplant
- 43 minutes to cook
- 1 hour 18 minutes total
