EGGPLANT PARM

SERVES : 4

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COOKS IN : 45 MINUTES

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DIFFICULTY : MEDIUM

Even back when I was a meat eater, eggplant parm was always a winning Italian dish for me and i’ve been lucky enough to taste it in it’s incredible home-city of Naples! Whilst this dish is always vegetarian, the eggplant is usually breaded using egg and the sauce will use butter, milk and cheese!

That being said, it is so simple to make this dish vegan and it oozes incredible Italian flavour. Obviously the cheese used in an Eggplant Parm is parmesan, however you can re-create this using whatever vegan cheese you can get your hands on. I make my own parmesan, which is so simple and so tasty so feel free to give that a go when making this dish!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 Eggplants
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1/2 onion
• Tomato’s
• White wine
• Breadcrumbs
• Cornflour
• Plain flour
• Dairy-free milk
• Dairy-free butter
• Fresh basil

HOW TO MAKE IT

1. Start by making your breaded eggplant. Cut into slices roughly 1cm in thickness and season with salt & pepper
2. Whisk cornflour & dairy-free milk to make a paste and coat your eggplants in the paste.
3. Coat the eggplant in your breadcrumbs and bake for 20 minutes at 200°C (you can deep fry the breaded eggplants for extra crispiness if you like)
4. Whilst the eggplant is cooking, fry finely sliced onion & garlic in olive oil and add your finely chopped tomatoes and simmer for 15 minute in a drizzle of white wine.
5. In a separate pan, make some bechamel by whisking dairy-free butter, plain flour and dairy-free milk into a creamy consistency. (Optional – add some mustard powder for a bit more of a cheesy taste)
6. Put your eggplant parm together by creating roughly 2-3 layers in this order – eggplant, basil, tomatoes, bechamel & vegan cheese
7. Bake the final dish in the oven for 20 minutes and enjoy.

Vegan parmesan – in a blender blitz, cashews, dried yeast, garlic powder, onion powder & salt.

Use any left over eggplant or tomatoes and whip up my tomato & eggplant soup 🍅