Baked Eggplant Parmesan

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Roasted Vegetables

1. 1
   Preheat the oven to 200°C (390°F).

   ⚙ Preheating the OvenOven

   💡Put things in the oven only once it's reached temperature, after the heating light has gone off: an oven that hasn't reached temperature changes baking times, and the bake burns outside or stays underbaked.
2. 2
   In a bowl, toss the vegetables with part of the olive oil and the salt.

   Bowl
3. 3
   Spread on a baking sheet in a single layer, without crowding.

   Baking pan
4. 4
   Roast the vegetables in a hot oven (200°C / 390°F) 20 minutes, until the eggplants are tender.

   ⚙ Oven roastingOvenBaking pan

   💡Give it room in the pan: crowded vegetables steam instead of browning.

For the Tomato sauce

1. 5
   Heat the rest of the olive oil in a pan over medium heat.

   ⚙ Pan-fryingStoveFrying pan
2. 6
   Add the onion and fry 5–8 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft and translucent and starts to turn golden at the edges. If it browns too fast, lower the heat.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove

   💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
3. 7
   Add the garlic and fry about 30 seconds to 1 minute, just until fragrant. Don't let the garlic brown.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove

   💡Garlic burns quickly and turns bitter. Add it only after the onion has softened, over medium heat, and add the next ingredient as soon as it smells fragrant.
4. 8
   Add and stir about a minute, until fragrant.

   ⚙ SimmeringStove

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.

To assemble

1. 9
   In a bowl, mix the cheese and eggs with half of the Parmesan.

   Bowl
2. 10
   In a baking dish, layer tomato sauce, eggplant and the cheese mixture, and repeat the layers.

   Baking pan
3. 11
   Finish with a layer of tomato sauce and sprinkle the rest of the Parmesan on top.
4. 12
   Bake 30 minutes, until the stew puffs up and turns golden.

   ⚙ BakingOvenBaking pan

   💡Check by the cue (until…), not just the clock: every oven bakes a little differently.
5. 13
   Let the dish rest for 10 minutes before serving.