What's For Dinner: Dairy Free Soy Free Fried Eggplant with Sauce

UPDATE: Please make sure to double check ingredients each time you buy. I hope I never overlook anything but it’s possible and ingredients can change. A lot of my posts are over two years old and since I have gone back dairy soy free I have discovered a few items I use to buy all the time that now have soy in them.

Dairy Free Soy Free Fried Eggplant with Sauce

Ingredients:
1 medium eggplant
1/2 Cup Flour
2 eggs, beaten (add a little water to extend eggs)
2 Cups Panko (I use Emeril's original)
Salt & Pepper
Oil for frying (I use 100% corn, canola, or peanut)
Spaghetti Sauce (I use Prego 100% Natural)

*Make sure to check your Panko, sauce, & oil for dairy & soy.

Cut the eggplant into 1/3 inch thick rounds.To reduce some of the naturally occurring, slightly bitter taste and coax out the buttery flavor of the spongy globe eggplant flesh, sweat the eggplant by salting before you cook it. Place the slices or cubes (peeled or unpeeled) in a bowl, sprinkling the layers lightly with salt. Allow it to rest 30 minutes, then rinse it quickly under running water and firmly press dry with paper towels. Salting globe eggplant also pulls out some of its water content and renders it less permeable; this helps prevent it from soaking up a lot of excess oil during cooking.

Dip eggplant in flour, shake off the excess, then dip it in egg, again, shaking off the excess. Finally dredge it in panko until evenly coated.

In a large non stick frying pan (or electric skillet), heat 1/4 inch of oil on high heat. When the oil is hot but not smoking, deep fry the eggplants until golden brown (flipping once). When it's done, transfer them onto a cookie rack resting in a baking sheet (with paper towels underneath) to drain.

Serve with hot spaghetti sauce.

Leftover Update: To reheat leftovers store sauce and eggplant separate. Heat sauce back up on stovetop. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Put eggplant on cookie rack resting in a baking sheet. Sprinkle with olive oil. Then heat eggplant for 10 minutes, flip and heat 10 more minutes. Serve with sauce and even some pasta if you want. Eat leftovers within 24 hours. I thought they were just as good leftover (do reheat in the oven).

 You can also find me on Pintrest @DairySoyFreeMom