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Lazy Cat Kitchen

A food blog with plant-based recipes from all over the world

Vegan eggplant parmigiana

July 29, 2020 by Ania - 12

aubergine, comfort food, easy, gluten-free, healthy, Italiango to recipe

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vegan eggplant parmigiana

In anticipation of two hot days kindly bestowed on us by the British weather system, I cranked my oven up and made a delicious summery dish – vegan eggplant parmigiana as it’s typically eaten at room temperature with a mountain of salad and it feeds a crowd.

As I am on my own when it comes to eggplants and tomato sauce-based dishes (they don’t agree with Duncan much), this should sustain me over the next two days, during which I don’t intend to move from my hammock other than to make myself my makeshift espresso freddo or use the toilet 😉 . This is what living in the UK does to you, the moment there is steady sunshine on the horizon, you clear your diary as this amount of vitamin D may not happen for a long while, so you gotta make the most of it.

This beautiful dish of layers of meaty aubergines baked in a sweet and herby tomato sauce and topped with cheese is an Italian classic and it’s poetically known as ‘parmigiana di melanzane‘. My version is obviously vegan and definitely healthier than most and certainly healthier than the original, as instead of coating eggplant slices in flour or breadcrumbs and frying them, I bake them in the oven without a drop of oil and it really works a treat. It’s a trick I used before in my very popular vegan moussaka that is loved by everyone and no one ever complains that it isn’t indulgent enough.

The thing about eggplant is that it is incredibly thirsty and capable of soaking limitless amount of oil, so the resulting bake can easily turn greasy. Also, frying this many slices of eggplant does add a lot of work and standing over a pan compared to this fairly effortless meal. So instead of frying, I bake my aubergine slices in batches until softened, knowing that they will get cooked further in the tomato sauce later. Plus, I don’t see the point of breading the aubergines if it’s then layered with tomato sauce that is bound to stamp out any attempt at crispiness.

The second difference is an obvious one, the lack of cheese. I am not massively keen on commercially available vegan cheeses and I have not yet found one I buy again and again. Many of them are made out of a lot of nasty stuff and a lot of coconut oil, which turns them into an oily, insipid mess in high temperatures. If you found a brand you enjoy, feel free to use that to top this bake. I went for a simple cashew cheese sauce, which is made of a few natural ingredients and acts as a as creamy topping, which balances the dish nicely. I went for aesthetically pleasing puddles of this stuff, but you are welcome to double (or even triple for a thicker layer) the amount of ingredients and have it cover the entire dish for added creaminess and an extra bit of indulgence, if you wish. Enjoy!

PS: If you make my vegan eggplant parmigiana, don’t forget to tag me on Instagram as @lazycatkitchen and use the #lazycatkitchen hashtag. I love seeing your takes on my recipes!

vegan eggplant parmigiana ingredients

vegan eggplant parmigiana assembling

vegan eggplant parmigiana whole

vegan eggplant parmigiana side

vegan eggplant parmigiana cut slice

5.00 from 5 votes
Print
  • serves: 9
  • prep: 30 min
  • cooking: 30 min

Ingredients

GENERAL INGREDIENTS

  • 8 medium eggplants (approx. 2.5 kg / 5.5 lb)
  • 2 tbsp pine nuts
  • 2 tbsp coarse breadcrumbs (optional)

TOMATO SAUCE

  • 2 tbsp olive oil, more to drizzle
  • 1 very large onion, finely diced
  • 6 large garlic cloves, finely diced
  • 3 x 400 g / 14 oz tins quality plum tomatoes
  • 120 ml / ½ cup red wine
  • 1 fresh bay leaf or 2 dry leaves
  • 2 large stalks of fresh basil
  • 1½ tsp Italian herb mix
  • ¼ tsp chilli flakes (optional)
  • 1 tsp date nectar (I use homemade) or sugar
  • salt and black pepper, to taste

TOPPING (double the amount to cover the entire dish)

  • 65 g / ½ cups raw cashews (soaked in boiling water for 30 min)
  • small garlic clove
  • 1 tsp white miso paste
  • 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • ¼ tsp salt, adjust to taste
  • pepper (I used white pepper), adjust to taste
  • 1 tbsp tapioca starch or ½ tbsp cornflour / cornstarch

Method

EGGPLANT LAYER

  1. Preheat the oven up to 200° C / 390° F and grab a metal (ideally an old-fashioned one rather than non-stick one as I found that the latter one browns them too much) baking tray.
  2. Top the aubergines and cut them into 1.25 cm / 0.5″ slices lengthwise. You may want to discard skin-covered ends (they would work great in vegan meatballs). With regards to salting eggplants, please see NOTES.
  3. Place the aubergine slices on the baking tray (no need to grease them) and into the hot oven for 20-25 minutes, flipping them gently once halfway through the baking time. Bake until they are soft and lightly browned. You’ll need to do this in batches or you can bake several trays at once but you will need to bake them a bit longer as increased oven humidity will slow things down a bit.

TOMATO SAUCE

  1. Heat up 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large frying pan.
  2. Add the finely diced onion and fry until translucent and slightly browned, stirring from time to time.
  3. Add in the garlic and fry for another minute or two, until softened and fragrant.
  4. Add in the tomatoes, wine (if using), bay leaf, whole basil stalks, dried herbs and chilli (if using) and 360 ml / 1½ cups of water. Simmer, stirring every 10 minutes, until the tomatoes break down completely and the sauce thickens – about 40 minutes.
  5. Season with salt, date nectar (or sugar) and black pepper. Set aside.

TOPPING

  1. Place the drained cashews and 120 ml / ½ cup of water in an upright blender. Blend until super creamy and smooth.
  2. Add garlic, miso paste, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Adjust seasoning to taste.
  3. Finally, add in tapioca starch and blend once again.

ASSEMBLY

  1. Preheat the oven to 200° C / 390° F (no fan) and grab a large baking dish (see NOTES for dimensions).
  2. Spoon a little bit of tomato sauce at the bottom of the dish (remove basil stalks – they’ve done their job of flavouring the sauce and discard).
  3. Follow with a layer of tightly arranged eggplant slices. Season the eggplants with salt, pepper and some extra dried Italian herbs if you wish.
  4. Follow with another thin layer of tomato sauce and eggplant. Continue until you’ve used up all of the sauce and eggplant slices, but remember that the top of the dish also needs a smattering of tomato sauce unless you intend to cover the entire bake with cheesy sauce.
  5. Finish off the last layer with dollops of cheesy sauce, drizzle with olive oil (I used 15 ml / 1 tbsp), scatter with pine nuts and breadcrumbs (if using).
  6. Bake for 20 minutes then increase the oven temperature by 20° C / 70° F and bake for a further 5-10 minutes, until the top is nicely browned.
  7. Allow the bake to set for an hour or so before cutting or else the slices will come out messy. Store the leftovers in the fridge for up to 5 days or portion and freeze. Enjoy warm or at room temperature. I like to have this with a big green salad and pan fried potatoes or grilled sourdough bread for a more filling meal.

Notes

The baking dish I used is a square 25 cm / 9.5″ dish, 6.5 cm / 2.5″ tall.

SALTING EGGPLANTS: Some people advocate salting eggplants / aubergines to draw out the bitterness, but I’ve forgotten to do that a few times and I totally got away with it. Since then, I’ve read that the varieties of eggplants grown nowadays don’t have any bitterness genes (black rather than white seeds indicate a bitter tasting eggplant apparently). If you do decide to salt yours, apply salt to the slices on both sides (for about an hour) and make sure you rinse the salt off really well and pat all the slices dry before baking.

If you want more info on some of the ingredients that we use in our recipes, check out our glossary.
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This recipe has been written by Ania. She is the cook, stylist and photographer behind Lazy Cat Kitchen. You can read about her journey into food blogging here. You can also check her out on Pinterest and Instagram.

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    Comments

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  1. Varadā says

    July 29, 2020 at 7:38 pm

    Thanks for another aubergine recipe Ania. The strange weather this year has given me a glut of aubergines and tomatoes . Thanks also for the tip of baking aubergine slices with no need for salt or oil. I learned that from you a couple of years ago in a moussaka recipe. I have a wood-burning stove and if it’s lit I bake aubergine slices and then cool them and pop them in the freezer compartment of my fridge – ready to add to any dish when needed.

    Reply
    • Ania says

      July 29, 2020 at 7:52 pm

      My pleasure, Varadā! I hope you’ll enjoy this recipe if you decide to make this recipe too. Great idea to make bake aubergines in advance too! Ania

      Reply
  2. Jenny B says

    August 1, 2020 at 4:56 pm

    Gorgeous! I made it for two of us in a smallish dish so scaled it down a bit (2 big aubergine, 1 tin toms,etc) but used the whole amount of cheese sauce which was delicious. I’d make it bigger next time as we finished the lot in one go and could have eaten more 😀

    Reply
    • Ania says

      August 1, 2020 at 7:03 pm

      I’m delighted to hear that, Jenny! And thanks so much for letting me know that you have enjoyed it enough to make again 🙂 Ania

      Reply
  3. Yvette says

    August 2, 2020 at 10:50 am

    Holy Moly this was meant to last 6 days and will do 4 at the most. It’s sooo good. I doubled the sauce to get a good layer as I’m quite over the top with sauces abut apart from that it was true to recipe. Perfect as always for Ania’s recipes. Another great success!

    Reply
    • Ania says

      August 3, 2020 at 5:04 pm

      I’m delighted to hear that, Yvette! Thanks so much for taking the time to let me and my readers know that you enjoyed this recipe! Ania

      Reply
  4. Don Pezzano says

    August 2, 2020 at 11:03 am

    This is awesome!! Thank you.

    Reply
    • Ania says

      August 2, 2020 at 5:50 pm

      My pleasure! Ania

      Reply
  5. Alyssa says

    August 17, 2020 at 9:11 pm

    Made this today, and my husband and I LOVED it!!! Thanks for the awesome recipe! 🙂

    Reply
    • Ania says

      August 18, 2020 at 1:31 pm

      That’s brilliant to hear, Alyssa! Thanks so much for taking the time to let me and other readers know that you did – much appreciated! Ania

      Reply
  6. Christopher Bossano says

    August 18, 2020 at 4:43 pm

    In your photos, a culinary masterpiece, not otherwise. Looks awesome. My family loves eggplant. I will definitely cook! Thanks!

    Reply
    • Ania says

      August 19, 2020 at 10:54 am

      Thanks, I hope you’ll enjoy this dish! Ania

      Reply

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Ania Marcinowska
Hi, I'm Ania. I love good food but I love animals more! Adopting a plant-based diet has been the best decision I've made and that's how this blog was born. It's a space where I want to show you that creating delicious plant-based food isn't actually hard at all.
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