Matty Matheson's Eggplant Parmesan is the Ultimate Vege Comfort Food

In our VICELAND show IT'S SUPPERTIME crazy-super-chef, Matty Matheson, shows you how to make his favourite meals, your favourite meals. In this full episode he makes comfort dish eggplant parmesan. Watch how he does it, then give it a go with the recipe below. You can catch IT'S SUPPERTIME on VICELAND, SKY Channel 13, Fridays at 7.30PM.

Servings: 8
Prep: 20 minutes
Total: 1 hour 20 minutes

for the tomato sauce:
1/2 cup olive oil
9 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 tablespoons tomato paste
3 cans whole peeled tomatoes, crushed by hand
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

for the eggplant parmesan:
3-4 medium eggplants, peeled and sliced lengthwise into 1/4-inch pieces
2 cups all-purpose flour
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
6 large eggs, lightly beaten
4 cups bread crumbs
1 1/4 cups olive oil
1 cup canola oil
4 cups tomato sauce
1 1/2 pounds sliced Mozzarella cheese
1 bunch fresh basil leaves
1 cup grated parmesan cheese

1. Make the tomato sauce: Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium. Add the garlic and onion and cook until translucent and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil. Season with salty and pepper and remove from heat.

2. Place flour in one large shallow dish. Season with salt and pepper. In another shallow dish, mix the eggs with 1/2 cup water. Place the bread crumbs in a third shallow dish. Working with 1 slice of eggplant at a time, dust it in the flour, coating it all over, then dip in egg wash, then place in breadcrumbs to coat. Repeat with the remaining slices.

3. Heat 1 cup of olive oil and the canola oil in a large frying pan over medium-high. Working in batches, cook the eggplant, flipping once, until golden brown, about 1 minute per side. Transfer to a rack set over a baking sheet and season with salt.

4. Heat the oven to 450°F. Ladle 1/2 cup tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9-by-13-inch casserole dish. Arrange a layer of fried eggplant into the dish, then layer mozzarella slices on top to cover. Spoon over 1 cup of tomato sauce then scatter 6-7 basil leaves on sauce. Arrange another layer of fried eggplant slices in the opposite direction. Repeat layers 3 more times ending in mozzarella. Sprinkle parmesan over surface of the top layer then drizzle with the remaining 1/4 cup olive oil. Bake until cheese is browning and bubbling, 20 to 25 minutes.

IT'S SUPPERTIME is on VICELAND, SKY Channel 13 on Fridays at 7.30PM.