I harvested 5 more eggplants from my garden, ran into the kitchen and made this! It reminds of the eggplant parms my Dad and I used to make together back in the old days. Our goal was to find a healthier way to make it because we didn’t want to fry the eggplants. Our solution – salt, lightly oil and then bake until tender. Of course, we were not vegan back then but all I did here was swap out the cow cheese for homemade macadamia nut sauce and voila! Brings back good kitchen memories.
I am the only one who eats eggplants in my house so I use one big or two little two eggplants when I make this. Of course, I make my own sauce. And cheese. And breadcrumbs. So I am going to outline the method for you with those measurements but you can adjust for how many eggplants you are using.
I would say the casserole in this photo should serve 2 but really, let’s face it, I ate the whole thing myself. I did have sauce and cheese left over. So, that means for 2 regular bell shaped sized eggplants, you will have just enough cheese sauce. Does that make sense? If not, email me and we can discuss!
You will need a small casserole dish as well.
Eggplant Parmsean
Ingredients
Eggplant Parmsean
- eggplants
- tomato sauce
- Macadamia nut cheese sauce (recipe included here)
- Breadcrumbs
- Olive oil
- Tomatoes for garnish
Macadamia Nut Cheese Sauce
- 1 cup macadamia nuts (If you don’t have a Vitamix, soak the nuts for 4 hours to overnight. Drain and then add to the blender.)
- 2 tbsp white wine
- 1 tbsp nooch
- 1 small clove garlic
- 3 dashes ume plum vinegar
- 1 pinch salt
- filtered water enough to cover the nuts
Instructions
Eggplant Parmsean
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Preheat the oven to 375. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
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Slice the eggplants into rounds, about the same size, say about 1/4″. Set onto the parchment and sprinkle the tops with salt. Set aside for 20 minutes.
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Dab the tops of the eggplant with a paper towel and soak up the natural water that came out because of the salt.
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Lightly brush both sides of the eggplant with olive oil and bake for 20 minutes, or until the eggplants start to look soft and the color changes.
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To assemble, spread tomato sauce on the bottom of a baking dish. Spread out a layer of eggplants. Top with macadamia nut cheese sauce and a sprinkle of breadcrumbs. Continue layering until you get to the top. If you have some nice slicing tomatoes, put them on top, top them with a little extra breadcrumbs, and then drizzle with olive oil.
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Bake for 20 to 25 minutes until bubbly and melty looking!
Macadamia Nut Cheese Sauce
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Add all ingredients to the Vitamix, blend until smooth. You can make this ahead of time and store in the refrigerator until ready to use.
