I love baked eggplant. I love the versatility of eggplant. Baked, fried, grilled, appetizer, side dish, entree. I have prepared countless versions of eggplant recipes over the years, maybe never repeating a recipe exactly the same way. I think that is about to change though, because this recipe is easy and flavorful, and reasonably quick.
The most important thing to remember when preparing eggplant is that it has to be tender. It is easy to undercook and end up with something that is spongey and chewy. I find that the best way to avoid this is to cook it twice, i.e. incorporate two cooking methods into the preparation. That means grilling than oven roasting, or blanching than grilling. In this recipe I broil the eggplants first, then after assembly the dish is baked. This is such an easy recipe, it’s a guide really, like a lasagna. Does anyone really follow a recipe for lasagna?
I call this pizza night baked eggplant because I like to bake it in my Kamado Joe as I am heating it up for pizza, as you can see here https://www.instagram.com/p/CfxXa1TvzDr/ , but you can prepare it in your oven just as easily and assemble it in cast-iron or one of your vintage pyrex casseroles. It does look cool in that cast-iron though.
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Pizza Night Baked Eggplant
All ingredients
Instructions
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Blend cheeses together and set aside.
Combine olive oil and garlic to make a garlic olive oil, set aside.
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Slice eggplants into 1/2 inch thick rings and lay flat onto a sheet pan.
Brush with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Broil on high until well browned, remove from oven, turn over eggplants, and broil again until reverse side is well browned.
Remove from oven and set aside to cool.
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Slice tomatoes thinly, drain, and lay flat on a sheet pan.
Drizzle tomatoes with garlic olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Broil tomatoes on high for about 5 minutes or until slightly browned.
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Swirl pizza sauce onto bottom of cast iron pan or casserole dish.
Lay broil eggplant slices around bottom of pan, allowing them to touch slightly, but not crowding them.
Place broiled tomato slice on each eggplant and top with basil leaves and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
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Sprinkle 1/3 of cheese over top of tomatoes.
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Place another layer of eggplant on top of cheese, doing your best to place the eggplant slices so that they overlap the bottom layer of eggplants. Press lightly to flatten layers together.
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Continue as before, adding a layer of tomato, basil, and cheese.
Add a final layer of eggplant, overlapping the previous layer of eggplant, press lightly, and add remaining tomatoes, basil, and cheese.
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Place pan, uncovered, into a 350 degree oven and bake for about 30 minutes, or until cheese begins to brown and liquid is simmering and has reduced.
When baking this in the kamado I hold the temperature between 200 and 250 degrees. This browns the top lightly and allows all of the flavors to gently simmer together and reduce.
Remove pan from oven, cover loosely, and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes.
Because the eggplants are fully cooked during the broiling step this dish can be assembled ahead of time and refrigerated until ready to bake. Just remove from the refrigerator about 15 minutes before you place in the oven to allow the dish to come to room temperature. This ensures that the juices reduce and thicken before the top layer of cheese becomes too brown.
