Baked eggplant with tomato and basil

4
Points®
Total Time
43 min
Prep
15 min
Cook
28 min
Serves
6
Difficulty
Easy
Fans of eggplant parmigiana are absolutely going to love this healthful rendition. The best part is you only need four ingredients to put this dish together, thanks to the convenience of using store-bought marinara sauce. Broiling the eggplant achieves a similar taste and texture to the usual, more cumbersome process of dipping the slices into a batter, breading, and then frying them. It also eliminates the need to salt the eggplant to remove the bitterness.To serve this as an appetizer, slice the eggplant lengthwise, top each slice with basil and cheese, roll up, and secure with toothpicks before baking in the marinara sauce.

Ingredients

Uncooked eggplant

2 medium, cut into 1/2-inch rounds

Store-bought marinara sauce

3 cup(s)

Basil

24 leaf/leaves, large

Shredded part skim mozzarella cheese

1¼ cup(s)

Instructions

  1. Preheat the broiler. Put the eggplant in a single layer on a baking sheet and spray with nonstick spray. Broil until well browned, about 4 minutes. Turn the rounds over, spray again, and broil until well browned on the other side, about 4 minutes longer. Remove from the oven and reduce the temperature to 375°F.
  2. Spread 1 cup of marinara sauce in a shallow 11 x 14-inch baking dish. Add the eggplant rounds, overlapping slightly. Top with the remaining 2 cups sauce, then the basil leaves; sprinkle with the cheese. Bake until the sauce is heated through and the cheese has begun to brown, about 20 minutes. Let stand about 10 minutes before cutting.