Eggplant Tomato Casserole is a healthy, vegetarian, Paleo dish that is flavorful, versatile and addictive. Serve it as a vegetarian main dish or a side vegetable.
I really love this particular dish. I ate half of it in a few hours all by myself. It’s a bit reminiscent of ratatouille, but with a different balance of flavors. It can be time consuming if you make it using just one skillet (took me 5 batches of sauteing the eggplant). Use 2 or 3 large skillets and the first stage of cooking the eggplant will be done in 10 minutes or so. The parsley is a key element – I’ve made it twice and doubled the parsley the second time. Also the chiles add a special spiciness to it. I used 1 tbsp of hot green chiles, and I thought the balance was very good (the heat was subtle), but I would also make it with 2-3 times the hot green chiles for a distinctly spicy dish. If you’re making it with mild or medium chiles, increase the amount of chiles and adjust to taste.
I also took the remaining 1/3 of the casserole, put in in a food processor and turned it into a dip. It was fabulous on tortilla chips.
This is a dish I’ll be making again and again. Hope you like it!
- 2 medium eggplant, sliced about ¼ inch thick
- Salt
- Olive oil
- ¾ cup diced onion (about 1 small)
- 2 large garlic cloves, pressed
- ½ tsp dried red chile flakes
- ⅛ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp salt
- 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
- 1 tbsp diced hot green chiles (or to taste)
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (or more to taste), divided
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Lightly sprinkle salt on the eggplant slices and let sit for 20 minutes, then pat dry with paper towels and set aside.
- Pour a thin layer of olive oil (1-2 tbsp) in a very large skillet (or 2 large skillets to shorten cooking time) and pan fry the eggplant in batches over medium-high heat till starting to brown, about 3 minutes on each side. Add more oil as needed between batches, but keep it light.
- Set the eggplant aside, pour about ½ tbsp olive oil in the skillet, and saute onion until soft, about 5 minutes. Add garlic, chile flakes, cinnamon, and ½ tsp salt. Cook for another minute.
- Add the tomatoes, green chiles, and 1 tbsp parsley and simmer until thickened a bit, about 5-10 minutes.
- In an oven-proof baking dish, about 9"x9", spread a couple tbsp of the sauce, then a layer of eggplant, more sauce, another layer of eggplant, then top with sauce - like a lasagna. The layers of sauce will be sparse, but it comes out fine.
- Cover with a lid or foil and bake for 45 minutes - until the eggplant is completely soft. Allow to sit about 10 minutes before cutting. Garnish with remaining parsley and serve.
- Enjoy!
I really love this particular dish. I ate half of it in a few hours all by myself. It’s a bit reminiscent of ratatouille, but with a different balance of flavors. It can be time consuming if you make it using just one skillet (took me 5 batches of sauteing the eggplant). Use 2 or 3 large skillets and the first stage of cooking the eggplant will be done in 10 minutes or so. The parsley is a key element – I’ve made it twice and doubled the parsley the second time. Also the chiles add a special spiciness to it. I used 1 tbsp of hot green chiles, and I thought the balance was very good (the heat was subtle), but I would also make it with 2-3 times the hot green chiles for a distinctly spicy dish. If you’re making it with mild or medium chiles, increase the amount of chiles and adjust to taste.
I also took the remaining ⅓ of the casserole, put in in a food processor and turned it into a dip. It was fabulous on tortilla chips.
This is a dish I’ll be making again and again. Hope you like it!
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