Crispy vegan eggplant parmesan - with only a few simple ingredients and no oil! The perfect addition to a bowl of pasta marinara.
There are times when we all just want a big bowl of simple pasta marinara. But why not take it to the next level without much additional effort? Well, hello vegan eggplant parmesan!
To be honest, I used to hate eggplant. After celery it used to be on the top of my "least favorite vegetables" list. I disliked the texture, the taste and the colour. I mean, you cannot deny that this grey is just not very appetizing, right?
Sharing the office with a couple of colleagues from Italy changed my opinion about eggplant - or aubergine if you will.
I realized that you can do a lot of tasty things with eggplant, you just need to do it right and use that slightly akward texture to your advantage. Anyway, I can promise you this much: This vegan eggplant parmesan are the bomb!
The trick? Make the eggplant sweat! If you sprinkle the sliced eggplant with salt, it will draw out a lot of moisture as well as some of the bitterness. The result: a fantastic texture!
Of course, we are still missing the best part: The vegan parmesan! I usually make vegan parmesan with cashews (and feel free to do so in this recipe). But then I realized how much more flavour pumpkin seeds have, which is why they've become my go-to vegan parmesan basis, at least for this aubergine parmesan recipe.
After this point there is not much that could go wrong (well, until now it should've been a piece of cake, too, I suppose? Let me know if I am wrong) - dip, coat and bake, then we are done. I would totally recommend to try this aubergine à la parmesan on your favorite pasta with marinara sauce. But maybe you have other great ideas. Adding this baked breaded eggplant to a sandwich maybe?
FAQ
Absolutely!
I haven't tried it myself but I don't see why not. I recommend using a gluten-free flour blend, rice flour or buckwheat flour.
Yes, you certainly can.
I hope you’ll give these oil-free vegan eggplant parmesan a try. If you do and love it, let me know in the comments below. And don’t forget to rate the recipe. You can also tag a photo (#veggiejam) to show me your creation on instagram.
More Tasty Vegan Pasta Dishes
- Linguine with Garlicky Cabbage Sauce and Coconut Bacon
- Pasta with Lentil-Veggie Sauce
- Tofu Cacciatore
- Noodles with Chard & Chanterelles in Vegan Cream Sauce
Recipe
Oil-Free Vegan Eggplant Parmesan
- Prep Time: 25 min
- Cook Time: 25 min
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 5 servings 1x
Description
Crispy vegan eggplant parmesan - with only a few simple ingredients and no oil! The perfect addition to a bowl of pasta marinara.
Ingredients
- 1 medium eggplant
- ⅓ cup spelt flour (60 g)
- ½ cup unsweetened plant-based milk (e.g. soy)
- ½ tsp apple cider vinegar
- ¼ tsp salt
- pepper to taste
Vegan Parmesan
- ¾ cup pumpkin seeds (100 g)
- ⅓ cup hemp seeds or more pumpkin seeds (30 g)
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast
- ¼ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp garlic powder
Instructions
- Slice the eggplant into 10 disks, each around 1 cm (0.4 inch) thick.
- Sprinkle the eggplant with a generous amount of saltand place in a colander. Let sit for ~20-25 min to draw out the water.
- Whisk together the plant-based milk and apple cider vinegar and put aside for 5 min.
- Pre-heat the oven to 390 °F (200 °C).
- Prepare the vegan parmesan by processing all ingredients in a (small) food processor until a coarse meal forms. Transfer to a shallow dish.
- Now whisk together the milk-cider mixture with the flour, salt and pepper.
- Rinse the salt from the eggplant and pat dry using a clean kitchen towel.
- Dip each eggplant disk into the milk-flour batter and let drip off any excess. Then dip into the parmesan from all sides to cover the entire eggplant cutlet.
- Place the eggplant cutlets on a lined baking tray and bake for 15-17 min. Then flip the cutlets and bake for another 8 min.
- Serve on pasta with your favorite marinara or use on a sandwich.
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