Grilled eggplant parmesan is next level eggplant parm without the fuss and frying!

DREAMING OF EGGPLANT PARMESAN?

OK, so let’s talk eggplant parm. I remember my grandmother making this classic dish by pan-frying the eggplant in a skillet prior to assembly. WRONG. No offense to my Italian American Nana, but eggplant shouldn’t be fried (and, yes, I feel an evil eye coming my way). For one, frying adds extra fat. And two, it makes your parm extremely heavy. Instead, GRILL the eggplant! Grilling makes for a lighter parm and adds the smokiness of simple indoor grilling – and, yes, indoor grilling adds noticeable smokiness – and takes your parm to the next level.

Think grilling adds extra time to this dish? Think again! Frying usually requires dredging the eggplant in both flour and an egg mixture. Grilling requires nothing more than slicing and seasoning the eggplant. PLUS: by grilling the eggplant, it is essentially cooked by the time you bake it, cutting down on baking time!

I do, however, recommend making your own marinara sauce – and I’ve included that simple recipe here, too.

Ready to make your Grilled Eggplant Parmesan?

HERE’S WHAT YOU’LL NEED:

*this recipe serves 4

• 2 medium-large sized eggplants (sliced into ½” slices)
• Salt & pepper
• Olive oil
• Marinara sauce
• 200 g (~1 cup) of fresh mozzarella, or a good quality pizza mozzarella (sliced into ¼” slices)
• Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
• Fresh basil, for garnish

For the marinara sauce (if you’re making your own, instructions follow the parm instructions):

• 3 T olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2-4 garlic cloves, depending on your taste, crushed, minced, or finely sliced
• about ¾ lb. ground beef (optional)
• 796 ml (28 oz.) tinned whole tomatoes (I like Mutti) – or crushed tomatoes or passata if you prefer a smoother sauce
• about a ¼ cup red wine (or white)
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano (or a small sprig of thyme if you prefer)
• about 1/4 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese
• Salt & pepper

HERE’S HOW TO MAKE NEXT LEVEL GRILLED EGGPLANT PARMESAN

Prep your marinara: If you’re making your own marinara, do this first, and keep it warm (my recipe is below). If you’re using a jarred sauce, have it ready to go by keeping it room-temperature or warm in a separate sauce pot.

Prep your eggplant and the grill: Get your indoor grill hot and ready. I use a 19.5 x 10” grill from LODGE that occupies two burners, vertically. Brush your grill with a bit of olive oil. Slice the eggplant into ½” slices. Season on both sides with salt and pepper.

Grill the eggplant: When the grill pan is hot (medium-high heat), place the eggplant slices onto the grill. Grill for about 3 minutes per side. You should see deep, char grill marks. If you’re using a grill pan like mine, the grill pan should fit one medium sized eggplant, about 11-12 slices. In which case, do the same with the second eggplant – slice, season, and grill, and put aside.

Assemble your parm: In a large baking or casserole dish (at least 14” x 13”), lightly coat the bottom of the dish with olive oil. Then add a thin layer of marinara on the bottom of the dish. Begin layering the first slices of eggplant. On each slice of eggplant, place a bit of marinara, then a slice of mozzarella, then a dusting of parmesan cheese. Repeat with another slice of eggplant, marinara, mozzarella, and parmesan. Then top with a third slice of eggplant. You should have about 8 towers of eggplant consisting of three slices of eggplant in each tower. Cover with a dusting of parmesan.

Bake for about 20 minutes at 400F: Bake until the cheese melts. Remember, both your eggplant and your marinara are cooked. The baking process in simply to melt the cheese and combine all the flavors. Serve a tower (or two) to each person and garnish with fresh basil.

TIPS AND TROUBLESHOOTING:

“My family is full of carnivores”: Mine too! I actually make my marinara as a Bolognese. Instructions are below.

“I don’t have as large an indoor grill”: If your indoor grill pan only accommodates one burner, you’ll have to perform the above grilling in 4 stages, if you’re serving 4 people. The good news is, if you’re cooking for two, you’ll only have to grill in 2 stages, one stage per half eggplant and halve the entire recipe (i.e. one eggplant as opposed to two). Or…invest in a larger grill pan that occupies two burners – this saves a lot of time and has many, many applications – the one I have is reversible! Investment: about $70.00 USD.

Size of the eggplants: Try to choose medium-large sized eggplants that will give you 11-12 slices each. I generally discard the upper 1-2 slices at the neck of the eggplant if they are too narrow. This recipe allows for 4 servings, which assumes 2 towers per person, with each tower consisting of 3 slices of eggplant (i.e. 6 slices of eggplant per person, 2 towers/person). If you’re serving this as a first dish (but not the main event), I recommend one tower/person.

MY MARINARA SAUCE RECIPE

Making your own marinara is simple and well worth the effort when compared to current store-bought sauces, which, in my opinion, are outrageously overpriced.

HERE’S HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN MARINARA

Heat the olive oil in a dutch oven or large sauce pot. Then add your diced onions. Season them with a bit of salt. Sauté until onions are translucent, about 2 1/2 minutes. Add your garlic and move it around for about a minute (garlic cooks quickly and you don’t want it to burn it!).

Add ground beef if you’re using ground beef. Cook for about 3 minutes until the beef looks sealed – that is, until outer edges are no longer pink.

Then add the whole tomatoes. Despite other cooks who might recommend rinsing the tin of tomatoes with a bit of water and adding it, I do NOT recommend this. Instead, if you want to thin out your sauce slightly, add a splash of chicken stock (about 2 T). Break up the whole tomatoes with a wooden spoon to desired texture. Personally, I like a rustic sauce, so I go light on the breaking up. Then add your wine. Allow the wine to evaporate and cook down, about 2 minutes. If you like thyme, add a sprig. If you like oregano, add it dried. If you have a parmesan rind, add it in. Give it a stir and leave it to simmer for about 15 minutes on a low heat.

Finally, add the grated parmesan cheese if you haven’t added a parmesan rind earlier. If you have, skip the added grated cheese. (Don’t add the grated cheese earlier, as the flavor will dissipate quickly.) That’s it! Your home-made marinara is ready to use in your grilled eggplant parmesan recipe.