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This Eggplant Italian Sausage Gratin is bursting with fabulous Italian flavor. A delicious, make-ahead, dinner party-worthy meal!
The first time I made this Eggplant Italian Sausage Gratin, Scott announced, after taking the first bite, "This might be the most delicious meal you've ever made!". The good thing is that I enjoy it as much as he does and it's gotten rave reviews from family, friends... everyone who tries it!
I love that this Eggplant Italian Sausage Gratin can be made hours (or even a day) in advance and simply popped in the oven for the final baking just before dinner, making it perfect for a dinner party. It's also a great dish to take to a friend or family in need; delicious comfort food that can be delivered and then baked whenever it's convenient for their schedule. I took a pan of it to a friend one evening and got this text a few hours later:
Chris, our dinner was AWESOME! We both moaned throughout the entire meal. I'm not kidding!!
I love having treasures like this Eggplant Italian Sausage Gratin in my recipe arsenal!
Although this dish might be a little indulgent for the diet-conscious, it doesn't need pasta to be enjoyed, which saves in the calorie department. Also, the recipe calls for just twelve ounces of Italian sausage which is drained of extra fat after cooking. The sausage gives tons of fabulous flavor without adding a lot of fat.
And for another healthy alternative, I decided to roast my eggplant in the oven in lieu of frying it as many eggplant recipes call for. The thick slices of eggplant are brushed lightly with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper, and into the oven they go. Thirty minutes later they're tender and ready to be combined with the fragrant tomato sauce.
There's one delicious splurge that takes this Eggplant Italian Sausage Gratin over the top (literally!). While the eggplant is roasting and the tomato sauce simmers, you'll make the topping sauce. It's a simple combination of reduced heavy cream and a generous handful of both Parmesan cheese and mozzarella cheeses. The cheeses melt into the thickened cream creating a silky and incredibly flavorful gratin topping.
Once the eggplant is roasted and the sauces are ready, it's easy to put the whole thing together. Just layer the eggplant and tomato sauce in a gratin or casserole dish. Top with the luscious cheese sauce and pop the whole thing in the oven till it's bubbly and golden. Serve in shallow bowls with some crusty bread (to mop up the fabulous sauce!) and a simple green salad.
It will be a meal to remember!
Buying and cooking eggplant
- When purchasing eggplants, look for ones with smooth, shiny, taut skin that are uniform in color and heavy for their size. Small and medium-size eggplants tend to be less bitter and their skin is thin and tender. Pass by the ones that have bruising and tan patches.
- Eggplants will keep well for several days in the refrigerator.
- Eggplant is also called aubergine and is part of the nightshade family. Potatoes and tomatoes also belong to this grouping of vegetables. There have been some claims that raw eggplant is poisonous. Raw eggplant does contain the toxin, solanine. It's generally not harmful when eaten in reasonable amounts, although some people can be sensitive to it and experience gastrointestinal discomfort.
- Eggplant is high in fiber and a good source of vitamin B1, copper, manganese, vitamin B6, niacin, potassium, folate and vitamin K.
- When cooking eggplant, it has a tendency to absorb a lot of fat. That's why in the instructions, I write to "brush tops of eggplant slices lightly and quickly with olive oil." If you linger, while brushing the slices will "suck in" as much oil as they can. It's pretty crazy!
Want to plan a special meal that everyone will love? This Eggplant Italian Sausage Gratin will bring LOTS of rave reviews, sighs and probably a few moans of delight!
Café Tips for making this Eggplant Italian Sausage Gratin
- The perfect pan to cook and present this dish is an au gratin pan. Au gratin pans can be round, oval or rectangular and are usually about an inch and a half to two inches deep. They come in enamel cast iron, stainless steel, copper, ceramic or glass. There are lots of options. If you don't have an au gratin pan, no problem, you can make this dish in a cast iron or stainless steel oven-safe skillet or a casserole dish. Just make sure it's not too deep.
- Thid Eggplant Italian Sausage Gratin recipe calls for fire-roasted tomatoes. These can be found at most larger grocery stores with the other canned tomatoes. They have a wonderful flavor and a deep red color. If you can't find fire-roasted tomatoes, regular diced canned tomatoes will be fine.
- Leftovers are delicious. They can be warmed up in the oven or in the microwave. The flavors almost get better, if that's possible!
- I love to serve these Artisan Dinner Rolls, this Ridiculously Easy Focaccia Bread or our No Knead Pull-Apart Brioche Bread with our eggplant gratin. The rolls and both breads can be made ahead and frozen. Take them out of the freezer a few hours before dinner and warm in a 300˚F oven for 10-15 minutes. They're perfect to sop up the wonderful sauce, no butter needed!
- Be sure to drain any excess grease after cooking the Italian sausage. Italian sausage can vary greatly in fat content. Sometimes there will be minimal grease after cooking and sometimes you'll find you have to drain a lot off. I just tip my pan to one side, push the sausage to the high size and let the grease drain down. Then I remove it with a spoon, a turkey baster or with crumpled paper towels.
- Give the gratin 15 minutes to sit after baking and before serving. The juices will thicken a bit, helping the gratin to hold its shape better when served/
Thought for the day:
Though the fig tree does not bud
and there are no grapes on the vine.
Though the olive crop fails
and the fields produce no crops.
Though there are no sheep in the pen
and no cattle in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will be joyful in God my Savior.
Habakuk 3:17-18
What we're listening to for inspiration:
If you enjoyed this recipe, please come back and leave a star rating and review! It’s so helpful to other readers to hear your results, adaptations and ideas for variations.
This Eggplant and Italian Sausage Gratin is bursting with delicious, universally beloved Italian flavor. It's a dinner party worthy meal that can be made in advance and just popped in the oven at the last minute!
- 2 medium eggplant sliced in ½-inch thick rounds
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 12 ounces Italian sausage removed from casings
- 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning
- 3 cloves garlic finely minced
- 3 14 ½- ounce can fire-roasted canned tomatoes
- ½ cup fresh basil, coarsely chopped
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 3 ounces grated parmesan cheese
- 4 ounces fresh mozzarella
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Preheat oven to 400˚F. Line two sheet pans with foil for easy cleanup. Brush foil generously with extra virgin olive oil. Arrange eggplant slices in even layers on prepared pans. Brush tops of eggplant slices lightly and quickly with olive oil. Work quickly as eggplant likes to absorb lots of oil. You just want to lightly coat the surface. Sprinkle lightly with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
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Bake for 15 minutes, then rotate pans and bake another 20 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside
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While eggplant is roasting, make the meat sauce and parmesan sauce. For the meat sauce, heat a medium-large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add Italian sausage and cook until lightly browned. Break the sausage up with a metal spatula and stir occasionally, as it cooks.
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Drain excess grease and reduce heat to low. Add Italian seasoning and garlic and cook, stirring continually for 2 more minutes to soften the garlic and let the spices bloom.
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Add fire-roasted tomatoes to the pot and increase heat to high. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to maintain a steady simmer. Cook for 20-25 minutes, until sauce begins to thicken, stirring occasionally. Add fresh basil and cook for 5 minutes longer. Remove from heat.
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For the parmesan sauce, pour 1 cup heavy cream into a medium-size saucepan. Heat over medium heat until simmering. Reduce heat and continue to cook, maintaining a medium-low simmer, until reduced approximately in half. This will take about 10 minutes. Add Parmesan and mozzarella. Stir over low heat, until cheese is melted and sauce is smooth. Cover and set aside.
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To assemble gratin, lightly grease a low enameled cast iron pan, gratin pan or low casserole. Arrange half of the eggplant in the pan. Spoon about ½ of the meat sauce over the eggplant and then repeat layers.
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Stir the Parmesan sauce well and pour over the top of the eggplant and sauce. You can leave some of the eggplant mixture showing, if desired.
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Reduce temperature to 350˚F and bake gratin until bubbly and beginning to turn golden in spots, 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving. Serve in shallow bowls with crusty bread.
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Shawna Ahmed says
Delicious and easy to make--I used turkey italian sausage and smoked mozzarella because that's what I had. My family loved it!
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks for letting us know, Shawna!
Charlene Ciongoli says
Not only do I love the sound of this fab recipe, but I just LOVE LOVE LOVE THE BIBLE VERSE!!! I love the Lord and I’m proud that you have incorporated that here too!! Blessings to you and cannot wait to try this recipe!
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, Charlene!💕
Susan Palukaitis says
Have made this twice, and delicious each time. Love that it can be made ahead, frozen and ready for a dinner party.
Chris Scheuer says
Awesome! Thanks for letting us know, Susan!
Mary says
The taste of this gratin is delicious! But the sauce turned out very watery. I always salt and drain my eggplant so the moisture must have come from the sauces They were cooked and reduced. The fresh mozzarella has a high water content so I will use regular next time. Or make more of a morney sauce Thanks for posting this. Something different that my family did enjoy.
Barbara Champion says
one more question: I made the recipe and did indeed find it very flavorful and "make ahead" easy. Only one problem. The fresh mozzarella did clump and not melt in with the cream/parmesan mixture. While I spread the globs of mozzarella out over the top oa the pan, do you have any suggestions as to how this might be remedied. Use plain old shredded mozzarella? Or just love the clumps and call it part of the character of the recipe?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Barbara, It may just be that some fresh mozzarella doesn't melt well although I haven't run into that. You could definitely use the same amount of whole milk mozzarella in this recipe though.
Barbara says
question--you do not indicate if the canned fire roasted tomatoes should be drained--or does one use the entire can, juice and all?
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Barbara, don't drain them. Use the whole can. Hope you enjoy it!
Bonnie J Perry says
What size is the gratin pan that you used? I clicked on the Amazon link but there are tons of sizes. I really like the one that you use.
Chris Scheuer says
HI Bonnie, I use a gratin made by Williams Sonoma but it is no longer available. This one is similar: https://amzn.to/3EPdxCy
Elinore says
Absolutely delicious. Took a bit longer for the sauce to thicken, but worth the wait.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, Elinore!
KelliCooks says
We used over grown aubergine-sized pair of zucchini squashes and made very little changes to your recipe. It is very good. We are lactose intolerant and it's hard to find lactose free cream so we made a couple of changes. We simmered lactose free half and half and added 2 tsp. of cornstarch in a slurry, then used the parmesan and substituted havarti cheese for the mozzarella. My kids' guts tolerate the more aged cheese better. It smelled good, it looked good, it tastes good and I made the wide width zucchini into something better for us than zucchini bread. It's been a couple of months but I wanted to remember to post this review and save the next gardener's wife handed large zucchini. Just seed them and proceed as directed. Delish.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks so much for sharing your results, Kelli!
Natalie says
I made your wonderful eggplant and Italian sausage. My question is may I freeze the entire meal after is has been completely cooked?
Chris Scheuer says
Yes, you can, Natalie.
Nanci says
I have a question and a comment. I made this tonight and we both enjoyed it. My question and comment concerns the white sauce. I knew from past experience that it takes quite awhile to reduce one cup of cream by half. At 10 minutes it had reduced by 1/4th so I had to double the time to 20. Then when I put the fresh mozzarella balls in the cream, they melted into a string goop. They did not melt smoothly at all but more like stringy mozzarella on a pizza and rather clumpy. I got it as smooth as I could before pouring. Is this normal? I wondered if using processed mozzarella would work better than fresh in terms of melting. Also I felt there could have been more sauce. But overall it was a tasty dish.
Nanci says
I think I found tHe reason. Fresh mozzarella has a high moisture content and will not melt easily. So a low moisture mozzarella is key! I will try again using that type. Here was an interesting article on the difference and which do best
https://www.seriouseats.com/the-pizza-lab-the-best-low-moisture-mozzarella-for-pizzas
Chris Scheuer says
Hi Nancy, I'm not sure why that happened, I'm sorry you had trouble. I have used fresh mozzarella with great results as have other but, honestly, either will work.
Regarding the cream, it all depends on how much heat you use. Mine took 10 minutes but if your heat is lower, it can take longer. I'm happy you enjoyed it overall.
Carole Pierce says
I love your recipes especially the salad ones. With one like this, it would be very helpful to give the approximate weight of the eggplants.
Really don't know how much "2 medium" eggplants is. Thanks for your hwlp.
Chris Scheuer says
Thanks, Carole, so happy you've enjoyed our recipes! Regarding your question, a medium-size eggplant would be between a pound to a pound and a half.
Judith Wagley says
Fabulous! Was a huge hit! Thank you.
Chris Scheuer says
Awesome! Thanks for letting us know, Judith!
Sheila Mehlem says
Looks delicious. Could I make this ahead and freeze it. If so, should it be frozen before or after cooking.
Thanks.
Sheila
Chris Scheuer says
Yes, you can do that, Sheila. I would bake it first and then freeze it.