Eggplant parmigiana in a sandwich. Warm eggplant, tomato sauce and mozzarella wrapped in a soft bun. The soft and gooey sandwich is akin to meatball sub but vegetarian. Add lightly pickled onion for extra texture and serve with a light green salad.
Recipe
Serves: 2 | Time: <1h if resting the eggplant (otherwise <25min)
Ingredients
Core ingredients
- 1 eggplant/ aubergine
- 4 tbsp (1/4 cup) pasta sauce/ marinara
- 1 ball of fresh mozzarella (220g | 8oz)
- Salt
- Corn starch
- Olive oil
- 2 soft buns
Optional ingredients
Great for extra texture and to cut through the richness of the eggplant.
- 1/2 onion
- Lemon juice
Method
- Slice eggplant into round 1 cm (~1/2in) thick slices (see picture 1). You will only need 4 slice for the sandwich.
- Salt both sides and place on a rack to rest for 30min (picture 1). This will season the eggplant and draw out extra moisture, skip the resting if you are in a rush to eat.
- Cut mozzarella into about 1 cm (~1/2in) slices (picture 2).
- (optional) Whilst the eggplant is resting, thinly slice the onion and coat with a pinch of salt and squeeze of lemon juice. Set aside until ready to use.
- Coat the bottom of a frying pan with olive oil and heat over medium-high heat.
- Pat the eggplants dry with a paper towel.
- Coat eggplants in cornflour, shaking off the excess (picture 3).
- Fry eggplants in the pre-heated pan, about 4min per side (until lightly golden and crispy). Do not overcrowd the pan, work in batches if needed (picture 4 and 5).
- Line a baking tray with baking paper or til foil.
- Place fried eggplants on the baking tray (picture 4) and top each eggplant with 1 tbsp of pasta sauce (picture 5) and 1 slice of mozzarella (picture 6).
- Broil in the oven for 3 to 5min (place under the oven grill).
- Remove eggplants from the oven.
- Open the buns and place 2 eggplants stacks on top of each other in each bun. If using onions add on top of eggplant stacks (picture 7).
- Serve with a light green salad and enjoy!
Substitutions
I highlight here some possible substitutions to adapt the sandwich to your preferences, diet and ingredients available to you.
| Recipe components | Possible substitutions* |
| Jarred Pasta sauce | Use any pasta sauce of your liking or make your own |
| Corn starch coating | • Skip |
| Extra | • Prosciutto • Fresh basil |
Country
Italy
Italy
The Global Homecook 