Eggplant Parmesan-Gluten Free and Dairy Free-Yum!

So a few weeks ago I picked up an Eggplant. I’m not sure why as it’s usually not a favorite vegetable of mine and had never made Eggplant Parmesan. I do remember taking a few bites of my wife’s eggplant parmesan at our favorite restaurant. I remember thinking, wow, this is really good. The pieces of eggplant were sliced very thin and then layered in the dish. So on a whim I thought let’s try Eggplant Parmesan, but without gluten or any grain and dairy. So here’s my recipe, it’s very simple.

1 Eggplant, peeled and sliced in about 1/4 inch slices
1Farm fresh egg
1 cup Almond flour
1 TBS Garlic Salt
1 24oz jar of Rao’s Tomato Basil Sauce
Vegan Gourmet Mozarella Cheese

Crack the egg in a bowl and beat the egg to make an egg wash. In another bowl add the almond flour and garlic salt, you can also add some favorite spices to the crumbs if you desire, like basil and oregano etc. Dunk each slice of eggplant in the egg wash and then cover that with the flour mixture. Place each piece on a hot fry pan coated in oil, I used olive oil, I’m pretty sure canola or coconut oil would work as well. Cook each piece on the fry pan til the eggplant is tender on both sides, nobody likes tough eggplant. Once all the eggplant is breaded and fried on the fry pan, place 1 layer of breaded eggplant in the bottom of a 9X13 dish. On top of the first layer add a layer of shredded vegan cheese and 1/3 of the tomato sauce. Repeat until all the pieces have been used. Sometimes I have extra tomato sauce and I will usually add the last bit to the top of the dish. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for about 30 minutes or until the sauce is bubbling. Enjoy!

Edit May 2013: I’ve started baking the Eggplant instead of frying it up in a fry pan. It’s much easier and I don’t have to worry about the burn temp of the oil on the fry pan. Place each slice of eggplant in the egg-wash and dip in the almond meal/flour and then place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Place in a pre-heated oven at 350F for approximately 15 min. After 15 min I took them out and turned the pieces over and placed them back in the oven for another 15 min. I used trial and error to determine the time after about 30 minutes the pieces of eggplant were tender to the fork. If you use larger slices you may need to increase the time in the oven. This can be done well ahead of time these pieces can be frozen to be ready to use at a later date. When ready to prepare the dish layer in a dish with your favorite sauces, mine is Rao’s

I made two dishes for the adults at my daughter’s 4th birthday party and it was all gone but for two small squares.