These Eggplant Parmesan Poppers have all the deliciousness of eggplant parmesan, in bite-sized form!

The only thing I’ve ever really known how to cook with eggplant (before this week) was eggplant parmesan. And I wasn’t even very good at that. They’d always come out soggy or chewy or good enough (but not good enough to actually serve to anyone). But I wanted to master the magnificence that is eggplant parmesan. So I thought hmmm, how can we get these puppies to cook evenly. Dice them! Yes, yes…we’ll dice them then bread them! Breading is a fun, messy step that I always love. It involves an assembly line of flour, eggs, and breadcrumbs. But how can we incorporate in that parmesan? With the breadcrumbs! These Eggplant Parmesan Poppers are a fun and tasty snack to serve up as an appetizer, sprinkled over a bed of pasta, or as a meal by themselves.

Now a lot of recipe will have you deep fry then bake your eggplant parmesan, but that’s just 1) not the healthiest way of doing this and 2) too much damn cooking for this air condition-less European summer heat. No, no baking or frying. Today we’ll pan-fry, which is just cooking on the stove with a small amount of oil. At a medium heat you’ll get a nice, crispy exterior while also reaching a fully cooked eggplant center. And it only take like 4 minutes!

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Eggplant Parmesan Poppers

These Eggplant Parmesan Poppers have all the deliciousness of eggplant parmesan, in bite-size form!

Course Appetizers, Main Dishes, Side Dishes

Diet Vegetarian

Occasion 4th of July, Game Day

Time 30 minutes or less

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 15 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Servings 4 servings

Calories 516 kcal

Author Live Eat Learn

Ingredients

• 1 large eggplant
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup all-purpose flour 140 g
• 2 large eggs
• 1 Tbsp water 15 mL
• 1 1/2 cups whole-grain Italian seasoned bread crumbs 200 g
• 3/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese 80 g
• 1/4 cup canola oil 60 mL, or a high heat oil

Instructions

1. Peel and cut eggplant into 1/2 inch cubes. Place cubes in a colander and lightly salt to draw out moisture. Set aside 15 minutes. Lightly pat the eggplant pieces with a paper towel at the end to dry.

2. Set up an assembly line of bowls. The first will contain flour. In the second, whisk the eggs and water. In the third, mix the breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese.

3. Working in small batches, coat eggplant pieces in flour, then egg, then breadcrumbs. Use one hand for coating cubes in dry ingredients and one hand for wet ingredients to prevent gunking.

4. Once you've coated all your pieces, heat a bit of oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add a batch of the eggplant and toss to evenly coat in the oil. Cook until brown and crispy on all sides, about 4 minutes per batch. You'll will need to add more oil prior to each new batch.

5. Serve hot with Fresh Tomato Marinara. Garnish with grated parmesan and chopped parsley.

Nutrition Facts

Eggplant Parmesan Poppers

Amount Per Serving (1 serving (1/4 recipe))

Calories 516 Calories from Fat 176

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 19.6g 30%

Sodium 934mg 39%

Total Carbohydrates 65g 22%

Dietary Fiber 10g 40%

Protein 19g 38%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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