Beefy Eggplant Parmigiana

The second week of the family visit, the slow week, the one that settles into the rhythms of the place. The beef wellington was the peak of the cooking — we ate more simply the rest of the week, from the garden, the way August asks you to eat. Corn every night. Tomatoes every day. The farm was the kitchen and the kitchen was the farm.

Finn has a project: he is cataloguing every vegetable in the garden. He made a list in a small notebook he found somewhere — my handwriting on the cover, a shopping list from years ago, which he'd emptied and taken for his own purposes, which is completely fine. He goes through the garden every morning with the notebook, writing down what he sees. Some of his entries are very precise. "2 red tomatoes today, 1 has a crack." Some are less precise. "Beans. Many."

They left on Saturday. The farm went quiet in the particular way it goes quiet after the family leaves — not silent, because the farm is never silent in August, but people-quiet, the absence of voices and the return of bird calls and wind and the ambient sounds of a working property. I stood on the porch until I couldn't see their car and then I went inside and made coffee and sat with it. Same as always. Good as always.

The tomato sauce project started Sunday. The peak of production is here — more tomatoes than I can eat fresh — and the weekend is for processing. I'll spend this week with the food mill and the jars and the August work of putting the summer into containers that will last through the winter.

The tomato sauce project will fill most of the jars, but not all the tomatoes need to go through the food mill. Some of them — the best ones, the ones Finn would have noted as “no cracks” — deserve to end up in something you eat that same week, while the garden is still giving you eggplant too. This parmigiana is that kind of recipe: summer vegetables and ground beef and good cheese, layered and baked until the house smells the way August is supposed to smell. It’s the meal I make in the quiet after the family leaves, when the cooking turns back to one and the garden is still overflowing.

Prep Time: 30 minutes | Cook Time: 1 hour | Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes | Servings: 8

Ingredients

2 medium eggplants (about 2 pounds total), peeled and sliced 1/2-inch thick
1 tablespoon salt, for sweating eggplant
1 pound ground beef
1 medium onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (28 ounces) crushed tomatoes
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 large eggs, beaten
1 cup Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs
1/3 cup olive oil, for frying
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions

Sweat the eggplant. Lay the eggplant slices on a baking sheet lined with paper towels. Sprinkle with 1 tablespoon salt and let sit for 20 minutes to draw out moisture. Pat dry with paper towels.
Brown the beef. In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, cook the ground beef and diced onion until the meat is no longer pink, about 6–8 minutes. Drain excess fat. Add garlic and cook 1 minute more.
Build the sauce. Stir in the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, basil, oregano, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer, then reduce heat to low and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Bread and fry the eggplant. Dip each eggplant slice in beaten egg, then coat in breadcrumbs. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Fry eggplant slices in batches until golden brown, about 2–3 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels.
Preheat oven. Heat oven to 375°F.
Layer the parmigiana. Spread 1/2 cup of the meat sauce in the bottom of a 9x13-inch baking dish. Arrange half the fried eggplant slices over the sauce. Spoon half the remaining sauce over the eggplant. Sprinkle with 1 cup mozzarella and 1/4 cup Parmesan. Repeat layers with remaining eggplant, sauce, and cheeses.
Bake. Cover with foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove foil and bake 10–15 minutes more, until the cheese is bubbly and golden. Let rest 10 minutes before serving. Garnish with fresh parsley.

Nutrition (per serving)

Beefy Eggplant Parmigiana — The August Work of Putting Summer Into Jars