Fried Green Tomato Parmesan

This is a dish I’ve been wanting to prepare for a long time, mainly because I’ve wanted to add more vegetarian recipes to my repertoire, and I’m so glad to finally have the opportunity! Each summer, we are fortunate enough to have an abundance of tomatoes in our back porch garden, and I’m always trying to think of new and exciting recipes for tomatoes. Now, being a born and bred Southerner, I love a fried green tomato in just about any shape, form, or fashion, but I haven’t seen a fried green tomato parmesan, so I decided to try it. I am more than pleased with the results! If you’re tired of the usual chicken or eggplant variations, the brightness of the green tomatoes adds a scrumptious delightfulness to the dish!

As always, feel free to tweak or adjust anything you’d like. I don’t add a lot of additional seasoning to this recipe because the Italian style bread crumbs are already well seasoned, but you can certainly add whatever herbs or additional seasonings you would like. When I made this, I used a homemade tomato sauce that I prepared from scratch with more tomatoes from our garden, but by all means, if you don’t feel like cooking sauce from scratch, use your favorite store-bought variety! 

Fried Green Tomato Parmesan

2 large or 3 medium green tomatoes

1 tsp. salt

½ tsp. black pepper

½ cup grated parmesan cheese

2 eggs, beaten

2 cups Italian style bread crumbs

Canola oil

2 cups prepared marinara sauce

8 oz. mozzarella cheese

Slice the tomatoes between ½ inch and ¼ inch thickness. Season them with salt and pepper.

Place the grated parmesan, beaten eggs, and bread crumbs in three separate bowls. Dip each tomato slice in the egg, then in the parmesan, then in the egg again, and then in the bread crumbs. Make sure each tomato is evenly coated with the breading.

Heat the canola oil in a skillet until it reaches about 350 degrees. (If you don’t have a kitchen thermometer, drop a tiny bit of the bread crumbs in the oil. If they start to bubble and brown, then it’s ready.) The oil should be about 1 inch deep in the skillet. Gently place each tomato slice in the skillet and cook for about two to three minutes on each side or until they are evenly browned. Place the slices on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb the excess grease.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Add a few heaping spoonfuls of marinara sauce to the bottom of a baking dish, and spread the sauce around the bottom of the dish until it is coated. Layer the fried green tomatoes evenly over the sauce, and top with a few more heaping spoonfuls of sauce. (You may not use all two cups of sauce, and that’s OK!) Then, top the tomatoes with an even layer of mozzarella cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is melted and bubbly.

Allow to cool for five minutes, and serve with a salad or your favorite pasta. 

(Bubbly, cheesy, fried green tomato goodness!)

 

Enjoy!