Eggplant and Fried Green Tomato Parmesan with Spaghetti and Italian Chopped Salad

Fried Green Tomatoes was one of my favorite movies growing up. I have made fried green tomatoes many times in the past summers. Green tomatoes are not easy to find in the grocery store in the winter. They did have some tiny ones with the heirloom tomatoes, though, so we bought some to try it parmesan style. I like a good eggplant parmesan, but HATE it when the eggplant is all squishy, wet and slimy. The trick is to salt the eggplant to release a lot of the liquid. It is awesome!

This recipe is combination of Closet Cooking's recipe and Annie's Eats' recipe. I really liked the idea of the cornmeal breading, which is what Closet Cooking did. And I really, really liked it.

We also made the tomato sauce from last night again. This time we doubled it and used San Marzano tomatoes. Amazing.

Fried Green Tomato and Eggplant Parmesan

from Closet Cooking and Annie’s Eats, modified by Shanon

1 medium eggplant (sliced into 1/4 inch thick circles)

1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

2 green tomatoes (sliced 1/4 inch thick)

salt and pepper to taste

~1/2 cup flour

~2 egg (beaten)

1/2 cup corn meal

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup light cooking oil

~4 cups marinara sauce (see recipe for tomato sauce with butter and onion, double recipe)

1 cup mozzarella cheese (grated)

1/4 cup parmigiano-reggiano (grated)

1. To prepare the eggplant, toss the eggplant slices with the kosher salt in a large bowl until combined. Transfer the salted eggplant to a colander and set the colander over the now empty bowl. Let stand until the eggplant releases at least 1 tablespoon liquid, 30-45 minutes. Spread the eggplant slices on a triple thickness of paper towels (or layers of clean kitchen towels); cover with another triple thickness of paper towels. Press firmly on each slice to remove as much liquid as possible. Wipe off any excess salt.

2. Season the tomato slices with salt and pepper.

3. Dredge the tomato and eggplant slices in the flour, then dip them in the egg and finally dredge them in the corn meal and flour mixture.

4. Fry the tomato and eggplant slices in the light oil until golden brown on both sides, about 1-3 minutes per side.

5. Place the fried green tomato and eggplant slices on the bottom of a baking pan.

6. Spread the marinara sauce on top of the fried green tomato and eggplant slices.

7. Spread the cheese on top of the marinara sauce.

8. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until the cheese is golden brown, about 20-30 minutes.

Printable Version

We had this over spaghetti with a chopped Italian salad. In it were the same veggies from last night: romaine lettuce, cucumbers, green and red peppers, red onion, carrots and celery. Plus, I added black olives and shredded mozzarella cheese. It was dress with olive oil, red wine vinegar and salt and pepper.

Also, found San Marzano tomatoes at Whole Foods! These tomatoes are always recommended in recipes that call for whole tomatoes. They are amazing. It is going to be hard to go back to anything else.