My kids love Italian-inspired food! Vivi- my little vegetarian- will eat anything with tomato sauce on it. My other kids love meat, but are usually good at trying a least a bite of even the most exotic dishes (especially if it is covered in cheese!). I always want to have the kids try new tastes and textures, so I decided to make an easy eggplant parmesan with my 8 year old “assistant:” Ricky is my future chef, and always wants to help in the kitchen. I love spending time with him side-by-side chopping and stirring because the conversation flows as we get deeper into the recipe.
Ingredients for Easy Eggplant Parmesan
My son was not familiar with what eggplants actually looked like in their raw form, even though I have snuck them into dishes before. He kept laughing at how they didn’t look like eggs at all. I love when kids experience making food from real ingredients all the way through to the final dish- and they are much more likely to taste it when they’ve helped to make it!
Because I am a fan of *fast* meals, and because we have an egg allergy and gluten intolerance, we kept this simple and used the following ingredients in our eggplant parmesan:
2 eggplants
1 bunch of basil
1 large jar of Ragu®
a wedge of Parmesan
plus salt, pepper, and olive oil
Instructions:
- Slice the eggplants and have your kids “paint” them with olive oil.
2. Broil for 5-10 minutes until they just begin to turn golden.
3. While it is broiling, grate the parmesan and chop the basil. My kids like to use kitchen scissors to cut up the basil leaves!
4. In a pan (either 13×9 or 9×9) layer the eggplant, basil, parmesan, and sauce. *Optional: if your kids really like cheese, cover the top layer with mozzarella and parmesan.
5. Bake in a 400 degree oven uncovered for 30 minutes.
This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Ragu® . The opinions and text are all mine.
What do you think? I love to hear from my readers:).