Why This Recipe Works

Starting with good-sized globe eggplants, we settled on using ¼-inch-thick round slices and found it helpful to leave the skins on to prevent them from falling apart. A standard breading procedure—seasoned flour, then egg, followed by breadcrumbs—created a substantial (but not heavy) crisp coating. Cooking the breaded eggplant before assembling the casserole is essential, and we were able to do this in two quick batches using a little olive oil. Parmesan cheese is an essential flavor of this dish, so we added some into the bread crumbs and sprinkled a little over the top of the dish before baking. Mozzarella is another standard addition, and a modest 4 ounces kept the casserole from becoming overly heavy and greasy. Layering the fried eggplant and cheese into the skillet with a store-bought tomato sauce ensured that this casserole came together quickly. Leaving a 1-inch border of the eggplant exposed as we assembled the casserole helped the fried edges of the eggplant maintain their delicious crispiness. Since the eggplant was fully cooked, the dish only needed a brief stay in a hot oven to melt the cheese before serving.

Before You Begin

Be sure to leave the outer edges of the eggplant slices unsauced in step 4 so that they remain crispy once baked. We developed this recipe using Rao's Homemade Marinara Sauce, but you can use your favorite brand or our recipe for homemade marinara sauce.

Instructions

Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Combine ½ cup all-purpose flour, ¼ teaspoon table salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper together in large zipper-lock bag. Whisk 2 large eggs together in shallow dish. Combine 2½ cups panko bread crumbs, ½ cup grated Parmesan, remaining ½ teaspoon salt and remaining ½ teaspoon pepper in second shallow dish.

Place 1 small eggplant, sliced into ¼-inch-thick rounds, in bag of flour, shake bag to coat eggplant, then remove eggplant from bag and shake off excess flour. Using tongs, coat floured eggplant with egg mixture, allowing excess to drip off. Coat all sides of eggplant with bread crumb mixture, pressing on crumbs to help them adhere. Lay breaded eggplant on wire rack set over rimmed baking sheet.

Heat ½ cup vegetable oil in 12-inch ovensafe nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add half of breaded eggplant slices to skillet and cook until well browned on both sides, 3 to 5 minutes, flipping them halfway through cooking. Return fried eggplant to wire rack and repeat with remaining breaded eggplant.

Pour off oil left in skillet, wipe out skillet with paper towels, and let it cool slightly. Spread 1½ cups marinara sauce over bottom of skillet. Layer eggplant slices evenly into skillet, overlapping them slightly. Dollop remaining ½ cup sauce on top of eggplant and sprinkle with 1 cup shredded mozzarella and remaining ¼ cup Parmesan, leaving outer 1 inch of eggplant slices clean.

Transfer skillet to oven and bake until bubbling and cheese is browned, about 15 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes, then sprinkle with ¼ cup chopped fresh basil and serve.