Authentic home cooking from Italy, with US measurements.

Originally published on Cookpad Italy as Parmigiana leggera con ragù (melanzane grigliate)

Lighter Eggplant Parmigiana with Meat Sauce (Grilled Eggplant)

Name: Lighter Eggplant Parmigiana with Meat Sauce (Grilled Eggplant)
Total time: 10800 s
Yield: Serves 8 servings
Ingredients: as needed Extra virgin olive oil,; as needed Onion, celery, and carrot,; as needed White wine,; 1.1 lbs ground meat (500 grams); as needed Nutmeg,; as needed Salt,; 1 bottle tomato purée; 5 fresh basil leaves; 5 grilled eggplants; as needed Salt,; 4 mozzarella balls; as needed Grated Parmesan cheese,; Prepared meat sauce

Francesca @Francesca

Hi everyone! Today’s lunch is a real treat: grilled eggplant parmigiana with meat sauce, lots of mozzarella, and Parmesan. This version is definitely lighter since we skip frying, but it’s just as delicious, made even better with a rich meat sauce instead of the usual simple basil tomato sauce.

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Ingredients

3 hours

Serves 8 servings

For the meat sauce
as neededExtra virgin olive oil,
as neededOnion, celery, and carrot,
as neededWhite wine,
1.1 lbsground meat (500 grams)
as neededNutmeg,
as neededSalt,
1 bottletomato purée
5fresh basil leaves
For assembling the parmigiana
5grilled eggplants
as neededSalt,
4mozzarella balls
as neededGrated Parmesan cheese,
Prepared meat sauce

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Steps

3 hours

1

Start by making the meat sauce. Sauté the carrot, onion, and celery in olive oil. Add the ground meat and cook, then deglaze with white wine.
2

Once the wine has evaporated, add the tomato purée and some water (if you prefer a thinner sauce, add plenty of water when using purée; if using homemade canned tomatoes, which are more liquid, you may not need extra water).
3

While the sauce simmers (about 1 hour), covered and on low heat (it should bubble gently), grill the eggplant slices.
4

About 10 minutes before the sauce is done, add the basil leaves.
5

When all the ingredients are ready, assemble the dish. Grease a baking dish with butter (I used two 6-serving dishes), spread a little meat sauce on the bottom, add a layer of grilled eggplant, sprinkle with salt, then add more meat sauce, mozzarella, and Parmesan. Cover with another layer of eggplant and repeat until all ingredients are used.
6

Finish with a generous sprinkle of Parmesan and bake at 350°F (180°C) for about 1 hour. The dish should be well set (grilled eggplant releases more water than fried, so it needs to dry out and brown on top).
7

Enjoy!

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Francesca @Francesca

Published in the US on July 11, 2026 14:02

Amo cucinare qualsiasi pietanza, mi piace creare e sperimentare, a dire il vero ho fatto grandi casini in passato.. ma l'esperienza premia e adesso i risultati mi sorprendono sempre e, cosa che mi fa più piacere, sorprendono gli altri. Cucino per me e per la mia famiglia piatti leggeri, light.. ma non ci facciamo mancare qualche strappo alla regola.. magari il sabato sera o invitando qualche amico.. soprattutto parlando di dolci, che adoriamo fare e soprattutto mangiare 😋😋😋😋😋.. se vi fa piacere seguitemi nella mia cucina e divertiamoci insieme 👩🏻‍🍳🤩😍❤💙❤🌻!