I’ve already waxed poetic about how much I love eggplant parmigiana. It was one of my Nana Lulu’s signature dishes and I lived for it growing up. In the not so distant past I made my best approximation of her magic with a more traditional eggplant parmigiana. This week I was craving it again, but I also wanted to do a different take on the classic. So I came up with these more manageably portioned individual eggplant parmigiana strips. It was a little less labor intensive and cooked more quickly. That meant dinner was on the table sooner, which made me a happy woman.
That was all it took to make these amazing little individual eggplant parmigiana strips! It was much easier to make than my traditional recipe and I loved that so much. Schedules are really busy these days, let me tell you. So it was so fantastic to get a home cooked, comforting Italian meal on the table with less time and work. Hope you all love it too! xoxo
These little individual eggplant parmigiana strips are so perfect for smaller portions with huge flavor. Serve on bread or with pasta for a complete meal!
- 2 small eggplant
- kosher salt as needed
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 pinch Lawry's seasoned salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 whole eggs
- 1 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
- canola oil as needed for frying
- 6 thin slices prosciutto
- 3/4 cup marinara sauce either homemade or jarred
- 4 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
- dried parsley as needed for sprinkling on top
- First, prepare the eggplant. Trim the tops and bottoms off and peel them both. Then trim away the rounded portions so that the eggplant is a rectangle. You can reserve the rounded portions to roast and use in baba ganoush, or use in veggie stock. Slice the rectangles into 1/4 inch thick slices lengthwise to get lovely strips. You should get about 12 strips from the 2 eggplants. Put them in a colander over the sink and sprinkle them liberally with salt. This draws out the moisture and bitterness. Let it sit there for an hour.
- When the hour is up, it is time to bread the eggplant. Set up the breading line with the flour, seasoned salt and garlic powder whisked together in the first bowl, the eggs beaten thoroughly in the second bowl and the bread crumbs in the third bowl. Set up a plate on the end to hold the breaded eggplant. Then put each piece through the line by coating it in seasoned flour first, then the egg, and finally the bread crumbs.
- When all of the eggplant strips are breaded, heat up about 2 inches of canola oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. When it starts to shimmer, fry the eggplant strips in batches of 4 for about 3 minutes on each side. When they are crispy and golden, transfer them to a plate lined with paper towel to drain them. Once all of the strips are fried, it's time to assemble everything. Pre-heat the oven to 350 and get out two or three baking dishes, depending on how big they are. a 9 x 13 pan can hold 6-8 strips in one layer, while an 8 x 8 pan can hold 4.
- Take each prosciutto slice and cut it in half lengthwise. Then wrap each eggplant strip in one of the strips of prosciutto before you place them in the baking dishes. Spread a tablespoon of marinara on top of each prosciutto wrapped eggplant strip, then evenly sprinkle the mozzarella on top of that. Finally, sprinkle the very top with the dried parsley. Bake it all for 10-15 minutes, until the cheese is bubbly and the prosciutto gets crispy. Serve immediately! You can serve it on crusty bread for an eggplant parmigiana sandwich or over pasta with more warmed up marinara. Enjoy!
Loving the use of the prosciutto in this recipe! I’m drooling!
Thank you so much!! xo
My favorite part is the prosciutto, too. 🙂
Thank you!! It really adds that special extra something I think. xo
Same here! This looks absolutely amazing. I cant wait to try it!
Oh thank you!! I hope you love it :-).
This is a very creative idea! I love that the eggplant is wrapped instead of the eggplant being the wrap. I will have to try this!
Thank you so much!!