Gluten Free Baked Eggplant Parmesan

1. Stage

Salt the eggplant: Season the eggplant slices with 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt and place them into a colander. Set the eggplant aside for one hour in the sink, then use your hands to press out as much liquid as you can. Take each slice and press it between your hands, allowing the water to drain out (you can also use a paper towel for this step). Use a light squeezing motion; squeeze too hard and you’ll tear the eggplant. As you do this, you’ll be rubbing off much of the excess salt, which will prevent the eggplant from being overly salty.

2. Stage

Preheat the oven and prepare a baking sheet: Preheat your oven to 425°F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper. Drizzle the parchment paper with 1 tablespoon olive oil.

3. Stage

Dredge the eggplant in almond flour: Pour the almond flour onto a large plate. Dip each eggplant slice into the almond flour on both sides, then place on the baking sheet. Because they will shrink as they cook, they can be placed very close together, so long as they don’t overlap. Drizzle the dredged eggplant with an additional tablespoon of olive oil.

4. Stage

Bake the eggplant: Bake the eggplant for 20 minutes. Carefully remove the eggplant from the oven and flip the eggplant slices using tongs. Return to the oven and cook for an additional 10 minutes. The almond flour should have turned fully golden on both sides and be crunchy to the touch. The eggplant itself will look pretty wilted. Remove from oven and set aside until ready to assemble the casserole.

5. Stage

Make the tomato sauce: In a medium sauce pot over medium high heat add the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add the garlic and Italian seasoning and sauté for one minute, stirring frequently to prevent the garlic from burning. Add the tomato purée and tomato paste and cook for an additional minute. Add the wine if using, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper, and stir to combine. Once boiling, reduce the heat to medium low and simmer. Cover and let simmer for 20 minutes. Remove from heat. The finished sauce should look thick enough to put over pasta, where it lightly coats the back of a spoon. It will have a darkened red hue, and smell like cooked tomatoes.

6. Stage

Reduce oven temp and assemble casserole: Once the eggplant is cooked, reduce the oven temperature to 375°F. Carefully ladle 1/2 cup of tomato sauce into a 9x9-inch baking dish. Lay 4 slices of eggplant over the tomato sauce with a fork or tongs and add an additional 1/2 cup sauce directly over the eggplant. Then sprinkle 1/3 cup mozzarella and 1 tablespoon parmesan over top. Create a total of three layers by adding another 4 slices eggplant, then 1/2 cup sauce, then 1/3 cup mozzarella and 1 tablespoon parmesan (two additional times.) The top layer should have mozzarella and parmesan on top, then sprinkle with fresh basil.

7. Stage

Bake casserole and serve: Place casserole in the oven for 20 minutes, until cheese is fully melted and lightly golden in spots. Remove from the oven and let cool for five minutes. Garnish with basil and serve.