I am born & raised in Staten Island (aka Shaolin) and yes I mention this all the time, because rarely do you find first generation Indian families on Staten Island. But given the fact that I’m born in SI almost makes me half Italian…right?! LOL! What I mean by that is I looove Italian food and am biased towards Staten Island having some of the best Italian food around (American Italian food that is!).

So if I didn’t like Eggplant Parmigiana, let’s say, that would almost be blasphemous. Not almost, it WOULD 100% be blasphemous. I haven’t eaten it in a while. Why? Well, vegan life, ya know? So I had a craving and thus this One Pan Skillet Eggplant Parmigiana was born! This is by no means meant to be “authentic.” It IS meant to be simple, delicious, and satiate any eggplant parm cravings!

This dish is portioned for 1 person, or 2 if you’re into that thing called “sharing” (ugh). Anyways, here it is. Very proud of this dish. It’s SO easy!!

One Pan Skillet Eggplant Parmigiana:

• 1 medium sized Italian eggplant – split lengthwise in half
• 2 cloves garlic – roughly chopped
• 1 cup of your favorite jarred marinara – I used Vero Gusto
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 sprig of fresh oregano
• 1 sprig of fresh basil, please extra for garnishing
• 3-4 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• kosher salt
• freshly ground black pepper
• cooking spray/neutral oil
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp Calabrian chili oil
• 4 slices vegan mozzarella – I used Esti
• 1/3 cup plain breadcrumbs – I used homemade

1. You’re going to need one medium or large non-stick skillet for this dish. Pour about 1 tbsp neutral oil into your pan and heat over medium high flame. Meanwhile, score the meat of your eggplant in cross hatches. Make sure not to cut all the way through the skin.

Place meat side down into the hot skillet and cover with a lid. After 3-4 minutes, open and check the meat side – if it’s getting very charred then lower your flame a bit, but if it’s getting golden brown you’re good. Place back on the meat side and cover with lid. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes or so. Open and flip. the meat side should be fork tender. While you have the skin side down, sprinkle a bit of kosher salt on the meat side. Cover with the lid. Cook another 4-5 minutes. At this point, eggplant should be very soft, fork tender, and cooked enough to be edible but not falling apart. Remove from pan.

2. Lower your flame slightly, pour in olive oil and calabrian chili oil. Once hot, add in your garlic. Saute until it starts getting slightly golden. Then add in your sprig or oregano.

Once super fragrant, pour in your sauce and add in your sprig of basil and water. Lower the flame a bit more (should be no more than medium-low). Add in your sugar, tomato paste, salt, black pepper, and chili flakes.

Mix until incorporated and smooth. Once the sauce starts bubbling, add in your eggplants – meat side up.

Cover the lid and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Now put your cheese slices on top of the eggplant and close with the lid again.

3. While the cheese is melting, toast your breadcrumbs in a separate pan – sprinkle in a little salt and freshly ground black pepper. Toast until golden brown and crispy. Turn off heat.

4. Remove lid from eggplant and once cheese is fully melted, top with breadcrumbs, some fresh basil and remove from heat. Serve with some crusty Italian bread!