Vegetarian Eggplant Milanese Crispy And Tender

This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

Sharing is caring!

Eggplant Milanese is the perfect vegetarian version of the veal Milanese. Crispy outside, soft and chunky inside, your children wouldn’t even know they are eating their veggies.

Jump to:

• Eggplant season
• Different fried eggplants
• Avoiding soggy fried eggplants
• Different types of eggplant
• Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
• How to prepare the Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
• Prepare the eggplants
• Frying the eggplants
• What to serve with it
• 📋Vegetarian Eggplant Milanese

Eggplant season

Eggplant is a typical summer vegetable here in the Mediterranean countries together with tomatoes, zucchini and peppers, they can be cooked in so many different ways.

Roasted, baked, fried, steamed there are so many delicious dishes you can make. With their sweet flavour and chunky flesh, eggplants can give structure and texture to many recipes.

Catanians, in Catania Sicily, have made eggplants one of their most acclaimed regional ingredients. Everything Eggplants: whatever it is cooked with eggplants is called alla Norma: Pasta alla Norma, Pizza alla Norma, Arancini alla Norma.

The origin of the name comes from a well-known comedian from Catania, Nino Martoglio (1870-1921) compared the perfection of Pasta alla Norma to a famous opera from Vincenzo Bellini (originally also from Catania) “La Norma” that was presented in 1831 at the Scala theatre in Milan.

Different fried eggplants

Fried eggplants are everyone’s favorite, and there are so many ways of making them. In this recipe I am using some flavored breadcrumbs to coat them and frying them like a Milanese, but not in butter.

Eggplants can also be cut in cubes and stir-fried, then added to sauces like in the Pasta alla Norma or Pasta with swordfish ragu or mixed with other vegetables to make Caponata.

They can be fried in slices and used as layers for eggplant Parmesan or toppings for baked pasta Aneletti or rice Timbale.

My favorite is fried eggplant balls, steamed eggplants mixed with flavored breadcrumbs and deep-fried.

Avoiding soggy fried eggplants

The problem is that the eggplant flesh is spongy and when fried, it absorbs the frying oil becoming soggy and oily.

One way of avoiding this problem is to fry the eggplants in very hot oil so that the external part of the eggplant forms a crust that stops the oil from been absorbed.

Another way is to coat the eggplants with breadcrumbs, like in this recipe. The breadcrumbs form a nice crispy coating protecting the eggplant that remains soft but firm.

Different types of eggplant

For this recipe I like to use the round purple eggplants, they are sweeter than the regular one and have less seeds.

Because they are sweet, you don’t need to drain them in salt to remove the bitterness, therefore the slices remain thick and compact.

I always peel the eggplant, but it is a personal taste, if you like the skin you can leave it.

The large shape of the slices are perfect for a portion of a side dish or a child lunch.

Italian seasoned breadcrumbs

I always use Italian seasoned breadcrumbs in many of my recipes, that is why I usually prepare a large amount and keep it in the freezer. They don’t need to be defrosted ahead of time.

If you want to know more about it you can read the article: Grated Parmesan and Breadcrumbs. also check out the article: Once a Month Freezer Meal Prep to find out what else I keep in my freezer.

I always keep the stale bread aside and when I have time I prepare the breadcrumbs and freeze it. Here are the ingredients I use in proportion to 3 cups of grated stale bread:

• 3 cups of grated stale bread
• 1/2 cup of parmesan
• 1/2 cup of basil leaves or parsley
• 1 garlic cloves

If you are making it only for this recipe use the amount listed on the recipe card below

How to prepare the Italian seasoned breadcrumbs

1. Greate the parmesan in a shredder
2. Cut the stale bread in chunks small enough to fit in the shredder
3. Shredd the bread putting the garlic  first so the bread absorbs the flavour
4. Take a cup of shredded breadcrumbs and blend it with the basil leaves (used shredded bread otherwise you risk to break the blender as the bread is too hard for a blender)
5. Add the shredded parmesan to the breadcrumbs
6. Then the breadcrumbs mixed with the basil

Following this procedure will minimize waste (like basil been stuck in the side of the blender, or parmesan left inside the shredder) and a perfect combination of flavours (the breadcrumbs absorbing the garlic and the basil)

It is best if the breadcrumbs rest overnight to absorbs all the flavours. If you freeze them you don’t have to worry about it and use them directly.

Prepare the eggplants

1. Peel the eggplants and cut them into round slices
2. Prepare 3 plates with flour, eggs and the flavored breadcrumbs
3. Mix the eggs adding 1 tsp of salt and some pepper
4. Coat the eggplants first in the flour,
5. then in the eggs
6. and last in the breadcrumbs
7. Lay them on a board

Frying the eggplants

8. Deep fry the eggplants into the fryer at high temperature ( 355 F – 180 C)
9. Turn them around when done on one side
10. When done remove from the fryer and lay on a kitchen paper towel to absorb the extra frying oil.
11. Serve while still warm with some mayonnaise or Aioli

What to serve with it

You can serve the eggplant Milanese as a side dish with a simple salad of arugula and tomatoes as I have done with the Veal Milanese. I like to dip it in homemade mayonnaise or Aioli (which is mayonnaise mixed with garlic).

If you want to serve it as a main dish for a vegetarian lunch, you can serve it with a fresh pasta salad like pasta and red pesto, Trofie with pesto Genovese or a pasta Caprese salad.

If you are making this vegetarian eggplant Milanese leave your comment below I would like to know which one is your favourite. You can find more delicious ideas if you FOLLOW ME on Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram or sign up to my newsletter.