Eggplant Parmigiana is a favorite classic Italian dish that we enjoy at my house, and it’s a very affordable dish to make.
I love eggplant Parmigiana, but the number of steps you must take to make it is a pain in the neck.
You must peel the eggplant, salt it to remove excess moisture and to tone down the bitterness. Salting the eggplant also makes it less spongy.
Then, you must slice it thin enough, so it cooks up to a perfect crisp. Then there’s the flour coating, the egg dip, the seasoning, and the breadcrumbs.
Oy Vey!
Heating the oil to the perfect temperature of 350 degrees for frying is the easiest part, or maybe eating it is the easiest part.
I make eggplant Parmigiana maybe once or twice a year, and chicken cutlet Parmigiana once or twice a month.
Finding really good eggplant Parmigiana in the outside world is not easy. Some places make it a soggy mess. Some places don’t cook the eggplant properly, making it tough to eat.
I’ve eaten at places that just throw all the ingredients together without any thought.
I’ve also eaten at places that do a spectacular job, those are the places that I return to.
If your restaurant or deli makes a good eggplant Parmigiana, then chances are good, the rest of the food you make is better than good.
* On a side note, if you’re going to make any eggplant dish, choose eggplants with taught skin and an indentation on the bottom. In my experience, those characteristics have worked best for me.
I combined my personal opinions with suggestions from other people on where to find places in Ocean County that make incredible eggplant Parmigiana, and this is the list I came up with.
