Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 216.4kcal
Equipment
- Cutting board
- Chef knife
- large bowl
- plate
- measuring spoons and cup
- small bowl
- 10" x 10" square casserole dish
- several large cookie trays
Ingredients
- 2 medium eggplants
- 4 egg whites
- 1 c homemade seasoned bread crumbs
- 1 c no sugar added Prego or your favorite marinara
- ⅔ c shredded fat free mozzarella
- 1½ tbsp grated Romano cheese - Parmesan can be substituted
- salt to taste, I did not add any salt to the bread crumbs.
- black pepper to taste, I added a pinch of pepper to the bread crumbs.
- garlic powder to taste, I added a couple of pinches of garlic powder to the bread crumbs.
- Pam or olive oil spray
Instructions
Prepping the Eggplant
- Slice the eggplants. Place a layer of eggplant slice on the bottom of a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle them liberally with salt. Putdown another layer of slices and salt them. Continue this process until all the eggplant slices are layered in the mixing bowl and salted.
- Fill the bowl with water. Place a plate on top of the eggplant slices in the bowl. Put another bowl filled with water on top of the plate to weigh it down and keep the eggplant slices submerged. Let sit for 30 min.
Breading and Baking the Eggplant Slices
- Preheat the oven to 400℉.
- Prepare a dredging station. Place the egg whites in a pie plate (glass if you have one). Add 1 tbsp of water and beat them all together. Place the bread crumbs on a plate and add more salt, black pepper and garlic powder if needed to season them.
- After 30 min., remove the eggplant slices from the water. Rinse them off and place them on a paper towel to dry off. Use a clean paper towel and blot the top surfaces to remove water.
- Spray a large cookie sheet with Pam or olive oil spray. Use a paper towel or napkin and smear the Pam or olive oil around to coat the bottom of the pan.
- Dip each eggplant slice in the egg white wash and then into the bread crumbs. Place the breaded slice on the cookie tray. You are looking to very lightly bread the slices. Continue until the tray is filled.
- Place the cookie tray of breaded eggplant slices into the oven and bake for 10 min. Remove the pan from the oven and flip over each slice. Return to the oven and bake for another 10 min.
- While the first tray of breaded eggplant slices is baking, bread more eggplant slices and start another cookie tray.
- When the first tray of eggplant slices comes out of the oven, set aside. Place the second tray of eggplant into the oven to bake for 10 min, flip the slices and bake another 10 min. Repeat until all the eggplant slices are breaded and baked.
- After baking the last tray of breaded eggplant slices, lower the oven temperature to 350℉.
Assembling the Eggplant Parmesan Casserole
- Spread some marinara on the bottom of the square casserole dish. Lay down a layer of baked eggplant slices on the bottom of the casserole.
- Place a dollop (a heaping teaspoon) of marinara on each slice of eggplant. Use the back of a spoon to spread it over each slice.
- Add another layer of baked eggplant slices to the casserole. Place marinara on each slice and spread it around. Repeat and put down another layer of baked eggplant slices and marinara. Continue until all the eggplant slices are in the casserole. The two medium eggplants gave me enough slices to make 3 layers of eggplant slices total.
- To the very top layer of baked eggplant slices, add marinara and spread it around. Sprinkle the grated Romano cheese over the top.
- Sprinkle the shredded fat free mozzarella over the entire top of the casserole. Cover it with aluminum foil. Place it in the oven and bake fat 350℉ for 35 min. After baking for 20 min., remove the aluminum foil and return to the oven and bake for the last 15 min.
- Remove the casserole from the oven when done. Let sit for 5 min to set the melted mozzarella. Slice the casserole and serve. Refrigerate any leftovers.
Notes
In the nutrition info, I included all of the egg whites and bread crumbs. You will most likely have some of each left after breading all of the eggplant slices but I did not measure the amount left over.
The sodium content for this dish is higher than normal.
- I used no sugar added Prego which was high in sodium. By switching to Francesco Rinaldi no sodium added sauce, you can lower the sodium from 754 mg per 1/4 of the recipe to 544 mg or from 502 mg per 1/6 of the recipe to 362 mg.
- I used Kraft fat free shredded mozzarella at 280 mg of sodium per 1 oz. Target's Good & Gather reduced fat mozzarella has a lower sodium content of 180 mg of sodium per 1 oz but you will loose some ground on saturated fat. In my household, reducing saturated fat is more important than reducing sodium. When I have a recipe that is higher than usual in sodium, I try to go with lower sodium recipes for other meals on that day. Choose a strategy that works best for your dietary needs.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 216.4kcal | Carbohydrates: 43.5g | Protein: 16.8g | Fat: 1.9g | Saturated Fat: 0.5g | Sodium: 754mg | Fiber: 21.1g | Sugar: 12.9g
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
