Baked Eggplant Slices in Tomato Sauce, Vegewarian RECIPE

Umm…remind me, what’s vegewarian again? It’s enjoying plenty of  sustainable, local, and delicious vegetarian foods, with meat dishes only once in a while.

As summer climbs towards its peak hot weather, hefty eggplants and tomatoes make a natural partnership in savory dishes like this one. Using the blender, the sauce takes little effort, and the eggplant almost cooks itself. Just assemble everything and pop it in the oven a few minutes, and you have a satisfying vegetarian main dish that needs only fresh bread and a leafy salad to make a complete meal.

Baked Eggplant Slices In Tomato Sauce

Ingredients for tomato sauce:

1 medium onion, chopped
3 large, juicy tomatoes, chopped
3 garlic cloves, peeled
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
Freshly-ground black pepper to taste
100 grams – 3 tablespoons – tomato paste
1/2 cup water
1 bay leaf
1 sprig fresh oregano herb or 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

Ingredients for eggplant:

1 large eggplant
1/2 cup flour seasoned with 1/4 teaspoon salt, for coating
Olive oil to drizzle

Slices of halumi or mozzarella cheese, 1 per slice of eggplant.
1/2 cup grated Parmesan or other sharp cheese

Prepare the sauce:

Blend the onions, tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, and salt and pepper in a blender or food processor until only slightly chunky.
Pour into a medium pan. Add the tomato paste, water, bay leaf and oregano. Stir well.
Cook, covered, over medium heat until the mixture simmers. Lower the heat and continue cooking, uncovered, until the sauce is thick and savory; about 1/2 hour.
Adjust salt and pepper if desired.

In the meantime, slice the eggplant thickly. Rinse the slices and drain.
Drag the eggplant slices through the seasoned flour and place them on a baking pan.
Drizzle a little olive oil over each eggplant slice.
Bake at 190 degrees C –  375 degrees F – for 15 minutes or until tender and getting crisp at the edges. Don’t turn the oven off yet.

Remove the bay leaf from the sauce.

Place a slice of cheese over each eggplant slice. Cover with a dollop of tomato sauce. Sprinkle grated Parmesan over all.

Bake the slices 5-10 minutes, or until the halumi or mozzarella is melting.

Serve immediately, and enjoy!

More irresistible recipes with eggplant and tomatoes on Green Prophet:

• Eggplant with Tahini/Labneh Sauce
• Eggplant Stuffed With Bulgur and Fruit
• Tomato Confit

Image of baked eggplant and tomato via Shutterstock.