Skip to main content
Main

Eggplant Parmesan

A baked dish of sliced eggplant layered with tomato sauce, cheese, and breadcrumbs.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 16 ingredients
Jump to recipe ↓

Why it works: Thyme and parsley match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 9,057 recipes. Both carry cuminaldehyde, which smells Spicy, cumin. The science ↓

Eggplant Parmesan

Oven375 degrees
Time10-15 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the eggplant

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

  2. Cut eggplant into 1/2" slices.

  3. Cover eggplant completely with hot water.

  4. Let eggplant stand 5 minutes.

  5. Dry the slices.

  6. Fry the slices in 1/3 cup oil until lightly browned.

  7. Sprinkle the slices with salt and pepper.

  8. Place the slices in the bottom of a 9"x13" baking pan.

Make the sauce and layer

  1. Combine the next seven ingredients in a blender and blend well.

  2. Sprinkle the blended mixture over the eggplant.

  3. In a saucepan, combine tomatoes, green peppers, onions, oil, garlic, and tomato paste and let simmer uncovered about 20 minutes.

  4. Spread the sauce on top of the crumb mixture and eggplant.

Bake and serve

  1. Top with Swiss cheese and the rest of the Parmesan cheese.

  2. Bake 10-15 minutes.

  3. Can be made ahead, refrigerated, and baked when ready to use.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

919Calories
35 gProtein
31 gFat
127 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 14 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Flour1 cup (125g) all-purpose455
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Parmesan Cheese1 oz (28g)110
Swiss Cheese1 oz (28g)108
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Eggplant1 cup cubed (82g)35
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Oregano1 tsp dried (1.8g)5
Thyme1 tsp dried (1.4g)4
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Parsley1 tbsp chopped fresh (3.8g)1
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Thyme + parsleytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together9,057 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  2. Thyme + oreganotop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together791 recipes

    Shared aroma: beta-phellandrene (minty, terpene).

  3. Eggplant + oreganotop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together157 recipes

    Shared aroma: alpha-pinene (pine, turpentine).

  4. Pepper + parsleytop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together34,122 recipes

    Shared aroma: 4'-methylacetophenone (bitter almond).

  5. Parsley + oreganotop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together1,184 recipes

    Shared aroma: estragole (anise, licorice).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Eggplant
Forms the main body of the dish and soaks up the sauce as it bakes.
Bread crumbs
Absorb moisture and add a light structure to the layer beneath the sauce.
Parmesan cheese
Adds savory, salty flavor and helps the top brown as it bakes.
Swiss cheese
Melts into a stretchy, cohesive topping that holds the layers together.
Tomatoes
Provide acidity and moisture that form the bulk of the sauce.
Tomato paste
Concentrates tomato flavor and thickens the sauce.

The step that matters

Dry the slices.. Surface water on the eggplant turns to steam in hot oil, which keeps the slices pale and soggy. Drying them well lets the frying brown the surface and limits excess oil soaking in.

Swap the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (eggplant, pepper, bread, parmesan cheese, thyme, parsley, oregano):

  1. Tomatofits better
  2. Spinachfits better
  3. Capsicumfits better
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against eggplant, pepper, bread, parmesan cheese, thyme, parsley, oregano. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

You might also like

Tomato SoupTomato Soup526 recipesBrown BreadBrown Bread461 recipesCream of Tomato SoupCream of Tomato Soup107 recipesMacaroni and CheeseMacaroni and Cheese102 recipes