Vegan Eggplant Parmesan Hero w/ Cipollini Onions, Truffle Basil Pesto, and Spicy Marinara Sauce
Difficulty: 2/5 (5 being hardest)
Spice Level: 1/3 (3 being spiciest)
Prep & Cook Time: ; 45 minutes
Servings: 3
The Challenge: Eggplant Parmesan Hero
It's time for another recipe! Have you heard of an eggplany parmesan hero? Its basically a chicken parmesan sandwich, but we replace the chicken with breaded eggplant. We line the bread with vegan cheese, top with spicy marinara sauce, basil pesto, and delicious sauteed cipollini onions. Those are the sweet little mini onions that are delicious on a sandwich.
These sandwiches are so damn good! They are deee-licious. Its a perfect Italian warm sandwich with toasty bread, tangy pesto, spicy sauce, breaded eggplant, and sweet onions. Best thing, its a super easy recipe that you can make in no time!
The thing I love most about this sandwich is the marinara sauce. We cook it down with some chili flakes, garlic, and you cant forget that delicious nutritional yeasr to add some cheesiness to the sauce. Nom!
This recipe makes about 3-4 sandwiches. Make sure to get some very crusty sub bun to take this recipe to the next level.
Let's get into it!
Ingredients:
Breaded Eggplant Cutlets
- 1 medium Sicilian eggplant, cut into 8 1/2 inch thick cutlets, 4-5 inches long
- 2 tbl flaxmeal + 5 cups water (2 flax eggs)
- Breading 1: 1/4 cup tapioca flour
- Breading 2: 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs, 1/2 tsp smoked paprika, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp dried basil, pinch or two of pepper
- 1 tbl olive oil
Spicy Marinara Sauce
- 1 medium shallot, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 lb of canned peeled Italian tomatoes
- 2 tbl tomato paste, canned
- Spices: 1 tbl crushed red pepper flakes, 1/3 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1/2 tsp oregano, 1/2 tsp dried basil, 2 tbl nutrtional yeast
Sauteed Cipollini Onions
- 8-10 cipollini onions
- 1 tbl olive oil
Basil Pesto
- 4oz basil
- 1 tbl truffle oil
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- pinch of salt + pepper
- 2 garlic cloves
- 3 tbl sunflower seeds
- 1 tbl nutritional yeast
Other
- 3-4 crusty hoagie/sub buns
- 6-8 pieces of vegan cheese (I used Chao cheese)
Equipment You'll Need:
Cutting Board . Sharp Cutting Knife . Measuring Cups . Measuring Spoons . Mixing Bowls , Castiron Pan . Frying Pan . Medium Pot . Food Processor
Before You Cook:
- Wash and cut all fresh ingredient
- Make flax egg and set aside
1. To start, add shallots + garlic to a medium frying pan. Cook down with 1 tbl of olive oil over medium heat for 4-5 minutes. After the rest of the sauce ingredients to the pan bring to a simmer and reduce heat to low. Simmer for 25-30 minutes.
2. Bring a medium pot to a boil and add cipollini onions. Boil for 8-10 minutes until softened.
3. When onions are done boiling, add to a medium frying pan with oil and saute for 6-8 minutes over meidum heat until it starts to break down.
4. While onions and sauce cook, set up three stations for breading and battering. Set up tapioca flour on a plate for dredging. Next step will be flax eggs. Finally, the third plate will be the panko bread crumbs and spices. Start with eggplant cutlet and dredge in tapioca flour.
5. Next, dunk the cutlet into flax egg mixture. Pull out and let it drip for a moment or two.
6. To finish, bread with the bread crumb mixture to create your cutlets.
7. Lastly, add the basil pesto ingredients to a food processor and mix until well combined.
8. To finish the sandwich, add bread sliced open and a few 1/2 slices of vegan cheese to oven and broil at 525F for 5-6 minutes. Then layer on cutlets, tomato sauce, onions, pesto, and arugula.
