Description
Baked Eggplant Stacks Recipe with Ricotta Cheese is a fun and delicious way to enjoy eggplant! Everyone loves these stacks of eggplant layered with ricotta and parmigiano (or parmesan) cheese and homemade tomato sauce.
Ingredients
Units
Scale
Salting the eggplant
- 2 eggplants, sliced into 1/3” slices, about 8 per eggplant
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt, 1 tsp per sheet pan to salt the eggplant
For the Breading
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 3 large eggs, beaten
- 1/2 cup parmigiano or parmesan cheese, grated
- 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
- 1/2 cup regular breadcrumbs
- 3 1/2 cups homemade tomato sauce
- Salt and Pepper to taste
For the Whipped Ricotta
- 15 oz whole milk ricotta
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated
- 1 tsp kosher salt
2 tablespoons fresh basil for garnish
Instructions
Salting the Eggplant
- Slice the eggplants each into 8 slices (16 total), approximately ⅓” thick.
- Lay eggplant slices side by side on a baking sheet. Salt the eggplant (1 tsp for each pan) and cover with two layers of paper towels.
- Let rest for 1 hour. After 1 hour, dry completely with paper towel as much as possible.
Breading
- Preheat oven to 400°. Coat a 9×13″ baking sheet with 1 tablespoon of olive oil or spray with baking spray. Or, line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside.
- Place the flour in its own shallow dish.
- Beat the eggs into a wide shallow bowl and set aside.
- Combine both breadcrumbs and cheese into another shallow bowl.
- Dip each side of each eggplant slice first in flour, then into beaten eggs and finally the cheese and breadcrumb mixture. Move to a prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes, flipping halfway through, until crispy. Cool.
Whipped Ricotta
- Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and pulse on high until creamy and thick- a couple of minutes.
Assembly
- Pour one cup of tomato sauce in the bottom of prepared baking pan.
- Layer half of the eggplant slices on the sauce.
- Top with 2 tablespoons of sauce and 2 tablespoons whipped ricotta. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon parmigiano cheese. Repeat process with final layer.
- Bake in 400° oven for 20 minutes until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with basil and serve!
Notes
Top tip
- Remove excess liquid from the eggplant– this will take away any bitter taste and won’t make the recipe soggy since eggplant is mostly made up of water!
- Whip the ricotta cheese. This makes the filling irresistibly smooth!
- Use Panko breadcrumbs for extra crunch!
- Prep Time: 1 h 5 min
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Category: Savory
- Method: Italian
- Cuisine: Italian