Plant based · Dinner
Mediterranean Eggplant
Parmigiana.
A lighter, plant based take on the Italian classic, crisp eggplant rounds, sweet passata, creamy cashew cheese and a generous handful of garden herbs. This recipe serves two. Double it for a family dinner.
- Energy
- 2,050 kJ (490 kcal)
- Protein
- 19 g
- Fat
- 30 g
- Carbohydrate
- 40 g
- Fibre
- 12 g
- Net carbs
- 28 g
How to make it.
- 01
Preheat the oven to 200°C and line a baking tray.
- 02
Slice the eggplant into rounds about 1 cm thick.
- 03
Make the cashew cheese. Blend the cashews, hemp seeds, water, nutritional yeast, 1 tsp of salt and a good grind of pepper on high speed until smooth and creamy.
- 04
Set up three shallow bowls: chickpea flour in one, almond milk in the second, almond meal with a pinch of salt in the third.
- 05
Coat each eggplant round in chickpea flour, dip it in almond milk, then press it into the almond meal.
- 06
Lay the rounds on the tray and drizzle with the olive oil. Spoon 2 tbsp of passata onto each round, then a spoonful of cashew cheese.
- 07
Top with the fresh herbs and bake for 20 minutes until the eggplant is tender and the edges are golden. Divide between two plates.
Why this meal works.
A classic parmigiana is layered with white flour, breadcrumbs, cheese and often a lot of oil, and the eggplant ends up as the vehicle for everything else. Here the eggplant stays the star, and every layer around it is doing a job.
The coating is chickpea flour and almond meal instead of refined flour and crumbs. That swap lifts the protein and fibre and drops the refined starch, which means the meal digests slowly and your blood sugar stays steady. The cashew cheese gets a handful of hemp seeds blended through it, which most people will not notice in the flavour but which takes the protein to 19 grams per serve without a scoop of anything artificial.
Eggplant itself is one of the highest fibre vegetables on the Mediterranean table, and twelve grams of fibre per serve feeds the gut bacteria that regulate appetite, mood and inflammation. Fibre is also why you feel satisfied on this plate without a mountain of pasta underneath it.
Fat loss happens when the body feels safe, fed and unhurried. A dinner like this, with protein, fibre, healthy fat and real flavour, keeps you out of fight or flight and lets the body get on with repair overnight.
Micronutrients on the plate.
- Manganese and potassium from the eggplant, supporting bone health and blood pressure.
- Lycopene from the passata, which is better absorbed when cooked with olive oil and is protective for the heart and skin.
- Magnesium, zinc and copper from the cashews and hemp seeds for nervous system health and immunity.
- Vitamin E from the almond meal, an antioxidant that protects cell membranes.
- Folate from the chickpea flour and B vitamins from the nutritional yeast.
Make it yours.
- Cooking for four? Double everything and use two trays.
- Add a side of rocket dressed with lemon and olive oil, or a handful of white beans warmed in the leftover passata, to make it a bigger meal.
- Anyone in the family who eats fish or chicken can add a piece of grilled barramundi or chicken alongside.
- Nut free? Use sunflower seeds in place of cashews for the cheese and fine oat crumbs in place of almond meal.
- Leftovers reheat well in the oven and keep for two days.
The Italian classic, lighter and kinder to your body, and still every bit as good. Buon appetito.
Enjoy!
With love, Serena ×