The early English language recipe collection, The Italian Cookbook, by Maria Gentile, includes a recipe for a baked eggplant dish closely resembling eggplant parmigiana.

More typical of a true eggplant parmigiana, the medallions would be battered and fried before layered together in the casserole dish. Gentile’s recipe is just that though– a baked casserole. The ingredients are similar, but combined in the oven.

Sometime in the 1920s, parmigiana preparations including veal and chicken become a lot more popular, and eggplant parmigiana likely grew into a more standard preparation in line with these dishes.

This recipe is adapted from The Italian Cookbook by Maria Gentile, in 1919.

Ingredients

5 eggplants
1 egg
Grated cheese
Tomato sauce
Flour
Oil
2 teaspoons breadcrumbs

Instructions

Peel eggplants.
Salt and let sit for several hours.
Dip eggplant in flour and oil.
Layer in baking dish with cheese and sauce.
Combine breadcrumbs, egg and teaspoon each of sauce and cheese.
Top eggplant with mixture.
Bake until cooked.