Looking for a meatless summer dish? This one’s for you.
I found a simple eggplant gratin recipe by Ina Garten (whom I’m somewhat obsessed with). It sounded yummy, but since I don’t do individual serving dishes like Ina (too much work) and since I love fresh tomatoes, I tweaked her recipe a bit. And of course, I’m sharing it with you. Aren’t I nice?
Here’s what you’ll need:
Two large eggplants
Three medium tomatoes
2/3 cup ricotta cheese
2/3 cup half-and-half
3 large eggs
1 ¼ cups grated Parmesan cheese
1 ½ cups marinara sauce
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Eggplant is such a pretty vegetable, don’t you think?
No need to peel the eggplant, just slice them up.
Then slice up the tomatoes. I’m one lucky girl when it comes to tomatoes, because I get these delicious Italian heirloom tomatoes from J Diddy. They may not be pretty, but I’ve learned a valuable lesson from my dad – do not judge a book by its cover when it comes to fruits and veggies. These tomatoes are sweet with hardly any seeds and a lot of flesh. In other words, perfect for cooking!
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a frying pan.
Once the oil is hot, fry a few slices of eggplant at a time. Do not overcrowd the pan with too many slices. It’s important to keep the pan hot, so that the eggplant slices don’t become too soggy with oil.
Brown each side of the eggplant slices, flipping once. This takes about 5 minutes.
Keep frying the slices until they are all nicely browned and cooked, adding more oil to the pan as needed. Set aside the cooked eggplant.
Now mix together the gratin custard topping! Put the ricotta in a medium bowl.
Pour in the half-and-half.
Then add half of the Parmesan cheese.
And the eggs too.
Don’t forget to season with salt and pepper. Then mix everything together.
Time to layer! In a 9×13 pan, place a layer of eggplant slices.
Put a layer of tomato slices on top of the eggplant. Already looks good, right?
Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
Cover the layers with the marinara sauce. Make sure you resist the urge to use a cheap bottled sauce…buy something good! Or if you’re really adventurous, make your own.
Then add a second layer of eggplant and tomatoes on top of the marinara sauce.
Pour and spread the custard mixture over the eggplant and tomatoes.
And sprinkle even more Parmesan cheese on top. This is a gratin dish after all…lots of cheese is a must!
Pop the pan in the oven and bake for about 30-40 minutes, until the custard topping is browned and set.
Yum. Summer comfort food. What a great substitute for lasagna.
Thank you, Ina, for the inspiration!
It was yummy!