Sous Vide Eggplant Lasagna Recipe

Most home cooks turned chefs who have sous vide kits are always pre-occupied with cooking sumptuous tender meat and the most mouthwatering fish. Fruits and vegetables sous vide are often left out without realizing that is provide a lot of stunning results.

Cooking vegetables sous vide usually takes between 25 minutes to 1 ½ hours. The tough vegetables take much longer. The longer you cook vegetables sous vide, the more it gets tender.

Once you place vegetables in a vacuum sealed sous vide bag for sous vide cooking, make sure to arrange them in a single layer. More gas is released by vegetables as compared to meat, so you need to check once in a while if the vacuum sealed bags are floating. Sous vide rack or any weight can keep the bags underwater.

Most vegetables are cooked sous vide at 83.9⁰C or 183⁰F, sometimes higher. Vegetables will cook quickly at higher temperatures but will still have the same texture as when cooked in lower temperatures.

Equipment

• Sous Vide Machine – our favorite right now is the Anova or the Joule.
• Container – not necessary, but nice to have for bigger cuts of meat. We recommend the Lipavi as it is large and sturdy. You can also use a pot.
• Vacuum sealer and bags, or a freezer Ziploc bag. If you only have a Ziploc make sure to check our our article on the water displacement method. You can find our favorite vacuum sealers here – 5 Best Sous Vide Vacuum Sealers (Reviews Updated 2021)

Best Sous Vide Eggplant Lasagna Recipe

Cooking time and temperature will vary depending on the type of vegetable. Factors such as variety, ripeness and size will also have an effect. Thus, sous vide cooking time and temperature will be different with each kind of vegetable. Eggplants are usually cooked sous vide at 83.9⁰C or 183⁰F for 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Ingredients:

• Eggplants, 2 lbs
• 1 ½ cups Tomato Sauce, canned (350 ml)
• 2 oz (56 g) Parmesan cheese, grated
• 4 oz (112 g) “Italian Blend” cheese, grated
• 4 oz (112 g) Mozzarella, fresh and sliced thinly
• 2 teaspoon Kosher Salt
• ¼ cup Basil, fresh
• 1 tbsp Breadcrumbs

Directions:

1. Heat water in a sous vide machine to 183ºF
2. Peel the eggplants and slice into thin and small rounds. Toss in salt.
3. Place eggplant in a colander. Let stand for 30 minutes to allow them to drain.
4. After 30 minutes, rinse eggplant and pat dry.
5. Place a layer of eggplant inside a plastic bag.
6. Top eggplant with ½ cup of tomato sauce, mozzarella, parmesan cheese, grated blend and fresh basil.
7. Place another layer of eggplant on top and top with ½ cup of tomato sauce.
8. Vacuum seal the bag and place in water in a flat position with the best sous vide vacuum sealer
9. Cook for 3 hours.
10. Release air from the bag twice during the first 30 minutes of cooking. For eggplants releases gas when it is being cooked
11. After 3 hours, drain all the liquid from the bag.
12. Placed the bag on a serving platter and carefully slide the eggplant layers to the platter. Let stand for 10 minutes and remove unnecessary liquid.
13. Pour the remaining tomato sauce, breadcrumbs, grated cheese and parmesan cheese.
14. Place on top of pasta.

This sous vide eggplant can also be served as a side dish to your main course. You can also use it as filling for an eggplant sandwich. Eggplants cooked using the sous vide method will result into an eggplant which is as soft as butter and extremely delicious. Although, it is cooked for a long period of time but it retains all its vitamins and nutrients.

Be sure to also check out our sous vide machine buying guide.