Eggplant Parmesan

Cheesy, tomatoey eggplant parm is classic Italian comfort food, as essential and delicious as lasagna or a bowl of pasta. While there’s a fair amount of debate about where the dish originated (scholars make arguments for Naples, Sicily, and Parma), we know that it has been cooked in essentially its current form since at least the 1830s. The layered casserole—made from fried breaded eggplant, mozzarella cheese, marinara sauce, and Parmesan cheese—makes an excellent vegetarian main with a light salad and garlic bread. It’s also a versatile side dish for a meatier centerpiece, like porchetta.

The key to eggplant parm success is to prepare sliced eggplant by salting it (to remove excess moisture and tame its bitterness) and then bread the slices and fry them carefully, without crowding the pan, until they’re crispy and golden brown. For this eggplant Parmesan recipe, we turn to panko breadcrumbs instead of the classic Italian breadcrumb mixture for an extra-crunchy texture. The marinara sauce also plays a huge role in this dish, adding much of the casserole’s depth and flavor, so make it from scratch if at all possible rather than using a store-bought version. Here, we purée fresh tomatoes and cook the resulting sauce with garlic and a heap of fresh basil, adding a combo of black pepper and red chile flakes to give the mixture a boost of warmth. Preparing these two elements properly takes a little time, but the result is well worth the effort, and both can be done ahead of time if you like.