Here’s a recipe for a really delicious and healthful version of eggplant parm.  Like any eggplant parm recipe, it is a little time-consuming, but it’s not difficult.

The traditional way to prepare eggplant parm is to coat eggplant slices in egg, fry in oil – and eggplant absorbs lots of oil – and then load the casserole with dairy cheese. Of course not only is the dish not vegan, it’s loaded with fat and calories, and frying the eggplant slices before baking the casserole is labor-intensive.  In this recipe we replace the egg and dairy with plant foods, and pre-bake rather than fry the eggplant slices.

You’ll want to allow about 2 hours to do everything start to finish.  However a lot of that time is inactive. The actual work time is about 30-40 minutes, and a little less if you don’t make homemade sauce.

INGREDIENTS

HOMEMADE SAUCE (Could use store bought if you prefer)

• 2-3 tablespoons or as needed, olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 3-6 cloves garlic, chopped (I like a lot)
• To taste, crushed red pepper (optional)
• ½ cup dry red wine (optional)
• 2  28-oz cans organic tomatoes of choice – crushed, pureed, diced, or whole that you mash
• Tablespoon or as needed, tomato paste
• Italian seasonings to taste – approximately 1-2 tsp dry (mix of oregano, basil, thyme, parsley).  Fresh basil leaves are very nice to add as well. Use 4-6.
• 1-2 Bay leaves

TOFU RICOTTA

• 1 package firm or extra-firm tofu, drained and pressed
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon or more of garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons dry basil (or 2 tablespoons of fresh)
• 1/3 cup nutritional yeast flakes
• ½ teaspoon or more of sea salt
• As needed, freshly ground black pepper
• 2 teaspoons olive oil

FOR THE EGGPLANT

• 1 large or 2 small eggplant peeled and sliced thin (about ¼ inch). You can slice length-wise or in rounds.
• 1 cup almond or soy milk
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar (white vinegar or lemon juice work too)
• 3/4 cup flour of your choice
• 2 cups Panko breadcrumbs
• Italian seasoning mix (or oregano, basil, thyme), garlic powder, onion powder, sea salt, and fresh black pepper
• As needed, olive oil

OTHER INGREDIENTS FOR CASSEROLE – ALL OPTIONAL

• 10 oz fresh organic baby spinach, rinsed
• Assorted chopped vegetables of choice, such as red pepper, mushrooms, broccoli, lightly sauteed
• ½ cup or as needed, vegan mozzarella shreds
• As needed, additional nutritional yeast

DIRECTIONS

The preliminary steps are to:

• Gather and prep all ingredients per ingredients list.
• Sweat the eggplant. Place the eggplant slices in a colander and salt them liberally on both sides.  Just leave them to sit for about 30 minutes. Then rinse with water and pat dry. Sweating the eggplant removes moisture, tenderizing the eggplant and removing bitterness. Sweated eggplant also absorbs less oil.  I confess I sometimes skip this step depending on my personal evaluation of the eggplant (and amount of time I have), but it does make a small difference.
• Drain and press the tofu – Simply place the block of tofu on a plate, cover with a paper towel or clean dish towel, place another plate and something with weight, such as a large can of tomato sauce, on top and let sit for 10-15 minutes. Discard excess water and pat tofu dry.

MAKE THE TOMATO SAUCE — You could skip this step and use store-bought sauce. Just check the ingredients to make sure there’s not too much sugar. Making your own is very easy, economical, and you control what goes into the sauce.

1. In a large pot, heat about 2 tablespoons of olive oil; add onions and sauté’ until transparent, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add garlic – and if you like a little heat, also add in a little crushed red pepper — and sauté another minute or two.
2. Add wine, if using, and let cook a few minutes.
3. Add tomatoes and paste and stir.
4. Bring sauce to boil; reduce heat to simmer for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Adjust seasonings to taste.
6. Remove bay leaf and discard.

MAKE THE TOFU RICOTTA

1. Mix all ingredients in a food processor.  You may also mix by hand.  If mixing by hand, add olive oil last, after you have reached the appropriate “ricotta” consistency with the other ingredients.

PREPARE AND PRE-BAKE THE EGGPLANT

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees, and lightly oil a baking sheet.
2. Make the batter.  In a large shallow bowl, mix the plant-based milk and apple cider vinegar.  Let sit a few minutes and then mix in the flour.
3. In another large shallow bowl, put the breadcrumbs and liberally mix in seasonings. (You also could just use pre-seasoned breadcrumbs.)
4. Wet both sides of the eggplant slices in the batter, dredge them in the bread crumbs, and place on the baking sheet.
5. Spay or drizzle a little olive oil on the eggplant slices
6. Bake approximately 12 minutes per side until slightly crisp and golden

ASSEMBLE THE CASSEROLE

1. Cover bottom of pan with just a very thin layer of tomato sauce.
2. Lay eggplant in single layer at bottom of pan. If you have more eggplant than fits in single layer, you’ll add it to the top.
3. Add the tofu-ricotta and spread fairly evenly. Reserve some to spread on the top.
4. If using, add the optional spinach and sautéed vegetables. Add additional eggplant slices if you have them.
5. Cover everything liberally with Tomato Sauce.
6. If using, sprinkle on optional vegan mozzarella shreds and/or nutritional yeast.
7. Top with remain tofu ricotta.
8. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes.

Let sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Recipe makes about 8 servings