Get ready—this recipe for Eggplant Parmesan is grain free and conventional in method, but somewhat unconventional in its use of ingredients. That’s because I use goat cheese or dripped yogurt instead of other soft cheeses. I do add Parmesan into the mix, but the choice of cheeses is up to you, really.
I use eggplant, but you can use zucchini if you don’t eat this vegetable that is part of the nightshade family (which includes potatoes, tomatoes and chili peppers). Some folks have a noticeable intolerance to nightshades, and historically the nightshade family did contain toxic chemicals as a defense (mainly bitter alkaloids), however many years of selection and breeding have removed most of those chemicals and bitterness.
I actually make half of this recipe because, alas, I’m the only one here who likes eggplant. I doubled it for readers so you can fill a 9 inch x 9 inch baking dish, however if you want less layers (two versus four layers), you can use half of everything in the recipe.
Eggplant Parmesan {grain free}
Ingredients
- 2 medium Italian eggplants
- 1/2 teaspoon salt to remove moisture from eggplant sliced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt for the flour mixture
- 2 cups blanched almond flour
- 1 large egg lightly beaten
- 1/4 cup olive oil for frying
- 2 cups tomato sauce
- 2 cups goat cheese or dripped yogurt with about 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup Parmesan cheese grated
- fresh basil leaves for top optional
Instructions
- Peel the skin off the eggplants, and slice them length-wise so you have thin slices for layering, casserole-style.
- Sprinkle the slices with sea salt (on both sides), and let them sit in a strainer or colander to drain moisture. Let this magic happen for about 15 minutes. Sometimes I leave it in the fridge to drain for a few hours, or until I'm ready to bake this dish.
- Combine the sea salt and flour and blend together with a fork. Pat dry the eggplant slices with a paper towel.
- On medium to low heat, warm a frying pan with oil. Create a thin layer of an oil puddle so the eggplant slices don't stick to the pan surface.
- Lightly coat (dip) the eggplant slices in the egg and then in the flour/salt mixture, and then place in the heated frying pan.
- Fry the eggplant slices on both sides for a few minutes on each side, until they start to brown a bit, and then place on a paper to absorb the excess oil.
- In a baking dish, place a layer of tomato sauce, then a layer of eggplant slices, then a sprinkling of goat cheese, and finally some Parmesan sprinkled on top of the goat cheese. Repeat this process until you've used up all the eggplant and your final, top layer is goat and Parmesan cheese. Optionally, place some basil on the top.
- Bake at 400 degrees F for about 10 minutes.
- Cool and then cut. Enjoy! Goes great with a salad and glass of red wine (or grape juice). And you can reheat at 400 degrees F for about 8 minutes. It cuts really well when cold (which is how I got that nice square picture of a slice).
Just a suggestion, even though most will know what you mean. When you list ” large egg lightly scrambled” in the ingredients, you might want to say “lightly beaten” so readers will know right away that you mean the egg is not cooked.
Thank you so much for a grain-free eggplant parmesan recipe!!! One of my fav dishes, but only one restaurant here did a delicious job of a gluten-free version, and they’ve since closed. Now I can feel confident to try it at home!
Great suggestion! thank you!
If I’m using zucchini, how many pounds should I buy for this recipe? Thanks!
How thin do you cut your eggplant slices?
about 1/4 inch thick
Instead of frying I greased a jelly roll pan and placed my floured eggplant slices on it. I let it bake at 400 for about 20-30 minutes, flipping once in the middle. This way they still came out fried but I didn’t have to sit over the frying pan waiting to complete the whole batch! Great recipe…thanks!!!!
This was really yummy. I used a vegetarian bolognese sauce and swapped the goats cheese for a low fat mozzarella. Tasted way too indulgent for this to be low carb and healthy. Very filling too.
Thanks for sharing this recipe!
I made this today and it was really good. I loved the goat cheese, something I would not have thought to use that really works well with the eggplant; it has a bit of sharpness and it’s creamy, which is a great combination in this dish.
However, I had a problem with browning the eggplant. I did not have it heavily coated in almond flour, yet a lot of it came off in the pan and turned into a dark mess. Had to wipe out the pan twice to continue browning. I’ve had the same problem before doing this with almond flour, so it’s no fault of your recipe. Seems if the pan is not hot enough, the eggplant does not cook quickly and if too hot, too much falls off. I may not have found the happy medium of getting the pan at the right heat.
Next time, I’ll either run them under the broiler to brown, or skip the almond flour and brush sliced eggplant with a bit of olive oil and run under the broiler. Either way, the recipe is definitely a keeper!
Luana – thanks for the low-down. Yes, the almond flour can brown on a higher heat. I kind of like it sometimes (like on the chicken fingers), but not burnt. You can try lowering the flame/heat, but it sounds like you would much prefer no almond flour coating – just roasting or pre-heating. I’ve done it both ways and it tastes great either way. Glad you gave it a try!
Yuuummmmmm. I’m going to serve this to my 3 brothers as “lasagna” 😉 They don’t like my new direction of cooking, but I have a feeling they’ll enjoy this one if marketed in just the right way to them.
Looks delicious! If I used zucchini, should I also salt it to draw the moisture out? Not a big eggplant person. 🙂
Good question on the zucchini – no need to salt the zucchini.
Beautiful job. This looks so fancy. I always have trouble picking out a good eggplant.
Hmm. I don’t know the “rules” on picking out eggplant, but for me, if it’s firm and had a shiny skin, it’s good to go.