Should You Remove The Skin When Making Eggplant Parmesan?

Italian eggplant parmesan is such a delicious and hearty dish that it's easy to forget that it has multiple layers of veggies. The crispy breaded eggplant slices, layered with tomato sauce and gooey, melted cheese make leftovers a rare commodity. While this is a satisfying dish to make, baking with this fruit can have some pitfalls and can lead to some mistakes you're probably making with eggplant parmesan. But once you know how to handle this veggie when cooking, you'll be making eggplant parmesan like a pro. A common question is whether removing the eggplant skin is a good idea or not. The answer? It depends on your eggplant's size.

If your eggplant is on the larger side, this means it is an older vegetable and will have tougher skin and could leave you with some unappealing chewy bites in your eggplant parmesan. You'll want to either remove half the skin or peel these completely. Any smaller eggplants usually have thin and soft skin that doesn't need to be removed, and can even add some texture to your dish. If you have the option, opt for small eggplants at the supermarket to make your hearty eggplant parmesan recipe even simpler.

While peeling or not peeling your eggplant may depend on its size, the rule of salting your eggplant before using it, applies to all eggplants. If you've skipped this step before then you may already know the consequence; soggy eggplant parmesan. The vegetable layers in this casserole dish should be light and crispy with no bitterness in sight. Salting your eggplant will remove some of its moisture and bitterness, making it the perfect texture for frying. Let it sit for at least 40 minutes, before wiping away any excess liquid with a paper towel.

When slicing your eggplant, you also want to ensure uniform slices so that each piece cooks evenly. Otherwise, you risk having a mix of uncooked and dry pieces, and neither of these is great in an eggplant parm. Another mistake to avoid is frying the breaded slices in too much oil. Eggplant has a spongy texture, so if each slice soaks up some of the oil, don't be tempted to pour in more. This will ultimately lead to, once again — soggy eggplant. But with with these tricks down your sleeve, you'll have the ultimate crispy and golden baked dish which you can serve with a classic Italian salad or pasta to stay on par with the Italian theme.