TastyTalkWithAmy: Eggplant Gratin with Herbs and Crème Fraiche (medium)

I am not a fan of eggplant but after making this recipe my friend sent me, my mind has been changed! What a great meal to make for impressing friends! It looks like you put a lot of hard work and time into it and it tastes fabulous! This dish is not a difficult meal to prepare but may be a tad bit time consuming. It is well worth the time and the many more times you make it, the faster you become at preparing it. Use fresh herbs! Fresh herbs are a must in this recipe! They really enhance the flavor in your mouth! I serve this dish with some Italian sausage on the side and you don't need much of that because it is so filling or you can skip that and just serve a nice fresh salad. I can handle 2 hamburger thick slices over pasta and I barely have room for an entire link of Italian sausage, if even that much! This recipe serves 4.

Recipe credit: Farmhousetable

Ingredients:

2 medium to large eggplant, sliced 1/2″ thick (I slice mine the thickness of a hamburger patty)
salt & pepper
olive oil
1 quart simple tomato sauce, Barillo or Classico, Basil tomato (I used Classico Tomato & Basil)
3 Tbs. minced chives, fresh
3 Tbs. minced parsley, fresh
1 Tbs. thyme leaves, fresh
12 oz. crème fraiche or heavy cream
4 oz Parmesan cheese, grated

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375.
Season eggplant slices with salt and pepper. Brush lightly with olive oil. Heat a large skillet or griddle pan over med-high heat and fry eggplant slices in batches until golden on both sides.
Set aside while you prepare the crème fraiche. Place crème fraiche or cream in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Reduce to about 1 cup, and then stir in half of the grated Parmesan and all of the chopped herbs. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper and set aside.
Oil a 9″ casserole or gratin pan and place eggplant inside in a single layer. Cover with a thin layer of simple tomato sauce and a sprinkle of Parmesan.
Make two more layers of eggplant and sauce, covering the top with tomato sauce.
Ladle over the reduced crème fraiche or cream and sprinkle on a final layer of Parmesan cheese. Bake uncovered until browned and bubbling, about 25-30 minutes. Let rest briefly before serving. Also delicious at room temperature.
Serve over pasta, thin spaghetti noodles work wonderfully.


The first thing is to start your creme fraiche because you will have to slow simmer it until you reduce it to 1 cup.


Chop up your fresh herbs and set them aside so they are ready to go once you have reduced your heavy cream for creme fraiche.


Slice up your eggplant and season with a bit of salt and pepper and brown on both sides. Remember to brush your eggplant with olive oil before frying. Do not fry in a pan of olive oil otherwise your eggplant will just soak up the oil like a sponge.


I used spray olive oil to grease my dish.

The tomato sauce I chose to use and I used the very large jar too.

I kept a measuring cup near the stove top and would pour out the cream into the cup to measure to see if it had reduced enough to 1 cup and as you can see here it reduced pretty closely. I then pour it back into the sauce pan and will add my chopped up herbs and Parmesan cheese.

Parmesan cheese added and heat turned off.

Fresh herbs added last and whisked in.

Creme Fraiche ready to use but set aside until last step.


Returning back to the already fried eggplant slices. Start with your first layer and get as many as you can to fit on the bottom without squishing them too much.