Eggplant parmigiana is a symphony of flavors and textures that just make one fall in love. Homemade tomato sauce, paired with savory eggplant, all crowned with a medley of Italian cheeses? Sign me up! This medicated recipe of eggplant parmigiana will make you forget that this dish is vegetarian, and is a perfect dish for upcoming gatherings and potlucks. Impress your guests with this traditional home-cooked meal.

Serves 4-6

Here’s What You Need:

Sauce Ingredients

¼ cup cannabis-infused extra virgin olive oil

3 medium yellow onions (diced)

6 cloves of garlic (finely minced)

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

3 tablespoons sugar

3 (28 oz) cans San Marzano whole plum tomatoes (i.e. Cento brand)

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon black pepper

Eggplant Ingredients

2 whole eggplant (washed and cut into 1/2″ thick rounds)

½ cup unbleached all-purpose flour

5 large eggs

3 tablespoons organic whole milk

4 cups Italian-style bread crumbs

1 tablespoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

1½ – 2 cups vegetable oil

1½ lbs fresh mozzarella cheese (cut into thin slices)

½ cup fresh Parmesan cheese (grated)

1 lb fresh provolone cheese (grated)

2 handfuls fresh basil leaves (torn up)

salt (for salting the eggplant rounds)

salt and black pepper to taste

1-2 baking sheets

aluminum foil

9×13 baking dish

Optional kitchen tools: kitchen thermometer, kitchen tongs

How to Make Medicated Eggplant Parmigiana

Sauce Preparation

To begin, open the canned tomatoes and pour them all into a blender or food processor. Blend or pulse until the tomatoes reach your desired consistency (if you prefer a super chunky sauce, skip this step).

Next, in a large skillet, heat up the cannabis-infused olive oil over medium-low heat.

While the cannabis-infused olive oil heats up, dice the onions and finely mince the garlic cloves.

Add both the onions and the garlic to the pre-heated olive oil and season with ½ teaspoon of salt. Cook the onions and garlic for 5-7 minutes, or until the onions become translucent.

Next, pour the tomatoes into the skillet and stir with a wooden spoon to combine.

Add the 3 tablespoons of sugar, ½ teaspoon of black pepper, and 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes.

Cook the tomato sauce for 10-15 minutes, or until the tomatoes have begun to break down and mesh well with the other flavors.

Remove the skillet from the heat and set it to the side to cool.

Eggplant Preparation

To begin, wash the eggplants and slice them into ½” thick rounds.

To take away some of the bitterness of the eggplant, liberally salt the eggplant rounds and allow them to sit for 1 hour. Salting the eggplants is what draws out the extra moisture and bitterness.

After 1 hour, rinse the eggplant rounds with cold water and dry each of them thoroughly with paper towels.

Next, prepare three separate bowls: one bowl for flour dredging, one bowl for an egg wash, and lastly one bowl for breadcrumbs.

Place the flour into the first bowl and season it with some salt and black pepper. Stir with a fork to combine, and set the bowl to the side.

In the second bowl, whisk together the eggs and milk, and season with a pinch of salt and pepper.

Then, dump the breadcrumbs in the third and final bowl.

Get a baking sheet ready and then begin to bread the eggplants.

Take one eggplant round at a time, dredge it in flour and shake off any excess, then dip it into the egg wash, and finally, cover the egg-dipped round in the breadcrumbs. Make sure you really cover and press the breadcrumbs into the eggplant round to ensure a good “stick.”

Place all breaded eggplant rounds onto your baking sheet.

In a large skillet, pour enough vegetable oil into the skillet to accumulate roughly ½” of oil in the bottom of the pan.

Heat the oil over medium heat until it reaches about 380-400 degrees Fahrenheit (if you do not own a thermometer, heat the oil until it begins to lightly smoke).

Use kitchen tongs to create a single layer of eggplant rounds in the bottom of the skillet.

Cook the eggplant rounds for 2 minutes on each side, or until they become golden-brown in color.

Remove the eggplants from the skillet and place them on a baking sheet lined with paper towels in a single layer – this will allow the eggplants to drain their grease as you cook the other eggplant rounds. Season the rounds lightly with a pinch of salt.

If you need to add another splash of vegetable oil to attain your ½” in the bottom of the skillet, please do so. Also, you should wait for your vegetable oil to reheat to the target temperature before adding in the next batch of eggplant rounds.

Repeat this process until you’ve cooked all of the eggplant rounds.

Eggplant Parmigiana Assembly

To begin, spoon about ¼ of the homemade tomato sauce into the bottom of your 9×13 baking dish.

Then, top the first layer of tomato sauce with a layer of eggplant rounds – try to create a single layer if you can, but the eggplant rounds can most certainly overlap some.

Next, top the eggplant rounds with about 1/3 of your mozzarella cheese, and roughly ¼ of both the Parmesan and provolone cheeses.

After, top with a layer of torn fresh basil leaves.

Spoon more of the tomato sauce over the tops, and repeat the building of the layers two more times – this will yield three layers in total.

When the baking dish is full and the layers are complete, press down carefully on the top layer using your hands – this will ensure the layers are compact and the dish will bake more evenly.

Now, before you bake your eggplant parmigiana it is recommended that you wrap a baking sheet in aluminum foil and place it on your bottom rack (the rack BELOW the one you intend on using for the eggplant parmigiana). This baking sheet will catch any drippings, preventing a smoke-filled oven, as this dish is one that will likely bubble over!

Then, place the eggplant parmigiana in the upper-portion of your oven and cook for 35-40 minutes. You want your cheese to be piping hot and bubbling!

If you desire a cheese topping that’s more browned, simply throw your oven’s broiler on for the last 2-3 minutes of cooking to reach the desired color.

Remove the eggplant parmigiana from the oven, and allow it to stand for several minutes before attempting to cut portions.

Serve and enjoy!

Check out other posts from Weedist’s Great Edibles Recipes series!