[Instant Pot] Close Enough to Eggplant Parm (on Pasta)

[theinfamousj]

I was craving Eggplant Parmesan (aka Eggplant Parmigiano), but I really, really hate making it myself. There's the slicing of the eggplant, the salting of the eggplant, the dabbing away of eggplant moisture, the breading of the eggplant, and I could go on forever.

So I usually buy this one. All the better to let someone else do the labors and me enjoy the flavors. My favorite Eggplant Parm dealer, Alfredo's Pizza Villa, has an option to serve it over pasta.

Could I recreate that at home? In the Instant Pot?

The answer is, "No." But I can come very close.


INGREDIENTS and MATERIALS

• 1 eggplant
• 1 onion
• 6 cloves of garlic [substitute 2 TBSP minced garlic from the jar]
• 4 TBSP butter, divided (2 TBSP and 2 TBSP)
• 8 ounces uncooked Penne [aka 2 cups Penne] (Note: In my area's grocery stores, pasta only comes in 16 ounce boxes so this will take approx. 1/2 box.)
• a 14 oz can diced tomatoes
• 1 smallest sold can of tomato paste
• 1 TBSP Italian Seasoning
• 1 tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
• 1.5 tsp salt (Kosher preferred; finer grain may be too salty so under-salt if using table salt)
• 1/3 cup shaved parmesan cheese
• 8 ounces Mozzarella cheese (Note: In my area's grocery stores, mozzarella only comes in 16 ounce bricks so this will take 1/2 brick.)
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs

Materials

• knife and cutting board
• food scale for measuring pasta [skip if measuring pasta by volume]
• microwave and microwave safe cup for melting butter
• mixing paddle [substitute other mixing implements]
• Instant Pot
• optional Onion Dicer to make chopping easier
• optional Garlic Press to make mincing the garlic easier
• optional casserole dish for steps 15 or 16

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Add your Penne pasta (8 ounces) to your Instant Pot. It goes on the bottom. This keeps you from having uncooked pasta at the end of the process.
2. Give a good wash and rinse to the outside of your eggplant (1) and then cut off the stem end to go into the compost. Optionally, you can peel the eggplant but I don't bother. Chop the remaining eggplant with the skin on. Chop it as finely or as coarsely as you prefer. If using an onion dicer at this point, do note that eggplant skin is going to put up a fight. I have been known to place the onion dicer on the floor and step on the dicer to assist the dicer in winning the fight.
3. Place the eggplant (1, chopped) into the Instant Pot on top of the Penne (8 ounces).
4. Now peel the garlic (6 cloves) and mince it or put it through a garlic press or otherwise macerate it and add the garlic (6 cloves, minced) to the Instant Pot.
5. Grab your onion (1) and peel it and rough-dice it and add the results to the Instant Pot.
6. Toss your first knob of butter (2 TBSP) into the Instant Pot, and add your spices - Italian seasoning (1 TBSP), crushed red pepper (1 tsp), salt (1.5 tsp) - for good measure.
7. Now it is time to add the tomato products. Open your can of diced tomatoes (14 oz can) and pour that into the Instant Pot. On top of that add the entire contents of the can of tomato paste (1 small can). Tomato paste (1 small can) especially, but diced tomatoes (14 oz can) maybe, will have trouble leaving the can completely, so use the water (1.5 cups) to assist in rinsing the cans out into the Instant Pot.
8. If you don't want to rinse or if you didn't use all the water (1.5 cups) rinsing out the cans, add the (remaining) water to the Instant Pot last.
9. Put the lid on the Instant Pot and set the valve to SEAL. Press PRESSURE COOK on HIGH pressure for 7 minutes. If you worry that there won't be enough water to cook the pasta, #trustUrvashi because the vegetables will release a lot of water.
10. While these items are cooking, it is time to cut the cheese (pun intended). The parmesan cheese (1/3 cup) should already be shaved and ready to go. The mozzarella (8 ounces) on the other hand will need attention. Rough-dice the cheese to the same size as you did the onion from before. I'll note that I used my Onion Dicer for both the onion and the cheese, but I did need to slice my brick in half in its smallest dimension to get cubes as opposed to towers.
11. Once the 7 minutes of cook time is over, set a kitchen timer or attentively watch the L-values as the Instant Pot naturally releases for 10 minutes and then quick-release all remaining pressure.
12. While the natural release is naturally releasing, grab your remaining butter (2 TBSP) and place it in a microwave-safe container and melt it in the microwave. Once melted, add the bread crumbs (1/2 cup) and mix thoroughly.
13. Once the pressure is released, open the Instant Pot and add the cheese (1/3 cup shaved parmesan and 8 ounces chunked mozzarella) and stir well using the residual heat to melt the cheese as you mix the ingredients.
14. Plate your delicious Eggplant Parm (for it does have parm in it) into a individual or group serving bowls. I, personally, put it right into my personal eating bowl. Then sprinkle with the breadcrumb mixture. Bon appetito.
15. OPTIONAL. Should you wish to have the breadcrumbs be a bit more crispy and this to a bit more closely resemble Eggplant Parm, dump the entire contents of the Instant Pot into an oven-safe casserole dish (or cast iron skillet because I'm rocking a capsule kitchen) and top with the breadcrumb mixture. Preheat the oven to 350F. When preheated, bake the dish for 9 minutes. Differences are slight vs not doing this, but slight is where the amateurs are separated from the practiced.
16. OPTIONAL x2. Don't like baking? You can broil instead. Broil for 3 minutes.

I usually have closing remarks, but this time I don't have any because I'm too busy tucking in to my second bowl of Close Enough to Eggplant Parm. Pregnancy cravings ... whatchagonnado?

Bibliography time! I started with Urvashi's recipe to use as a base, but modified it because who can estimate what 4 cups of chopped eggplant is when standing in the produce section, and why does anyone need the hassle of having leftover tomato paste?Using extra butter in the bread crumbs, decreasing the amount of Mozzarella and adding the Parmesan to the dish for melting-time (y'all, I cannot begin to tell you the flavor difference between my recipe and the base recipe due to just this one simple change), and leaving the oven out of it were brainstorms of yours truly as taste-tested in comparison to Alfredo's masterpiece. Feel free to make both versions - mine and Urvashi's - and tell me which you prefer in the comments.