I always thought eggplants were a vegetable but technically they are a fruit. And what a versatile fruit they are. They can be grilled, roasted, sautéed, and now people are cooking them in their air fryers. Eggplants can be used in savoury salads, as a side dish or even as a main meal as with this recipe, Eggplant Parma. It is the vegetarian version of a Chicken parma (parmigiana) which is a slice of eggplant, baked, then a tomato sauce put on top and then cheese melted over it. Served with chips and or salad or vegetables. It is a great little meal and very filling.
How to Prepare Eggplant for Cooking
Many recipes advise for salting and ringing your eggplant before cooking it as this draws out the bitterness. Some people just put salt on the eggplant while other soak the slices in a salty water before patting the pieces dry. For my recipe of Eggplant Parmigiana (Parma) I salted both sides of the eggplant, let is sit for 10 minutes, then patted it with paper towel to remove the excess moisture, which also took most of the salt off.
Eggplant Parmigiana (Parma)

Notes
Equipment Required to Make:
Chopping board and knife
Frypan (and oven to melt cheese)
Spatula to turn Eggplant
Plate, knife and fork
Ingredients
- Small eggplant - will provide 3-4 slices depending on how thick slices are
- Tomato sauce/paste
- Handful grated cheese
- Salt
- Oil
Instructions
- Method
- Slice eggplant, you can leave the skin on the sides
- Salt, and leave for 10 minutes, then pat moisture and salt off
- In a pan, lightly fry each side of the eggplant.
- Remove from pan and spread tomato sauce over eggplant and top with grated cheese.
- Note: Parmas usually have a slice of ham on top of the sauce. Leave this out for the vegetarian option.
- Put back into pan and allow cheese to melt, or if you have an oven available, put in the oven until cheese and melted and slightly browned.
- Serve with salad and chips. I served with potato bake.
