The Pasta Queen's Top Tip For A Crispy And Flavorful Eggplant Parmesan

When it comes to Italian cooking and eggplant Parmesan, ingredients matter. Just ask Nadia Caterina Munno, better known as TikTok's Pasta Queen. Munno hails from five generations of pasta makers and knows there are plenty of mistakes American cooks are probably making with eggplant Parmesan, including the type of oil you are using. In episode 7 of her Amazon Prime series aptly titled "The Pasta Queen," Munno shared that she uses part olive oil and part vegetable oil for the dish.

The Pasta Queen notes, "Blending the oils preserves olive oil's flavor and health benefits while vegetable oil raises the smoke point for frying." This means your eggplant is going to get nice and crispy without burning. How do you know when your oil is ready? Munno places the handle of a wooden spoon in the pot of oil and if it starts to bubble at the base, the oil is hot enough to start frying up those slices of eggplant. You can tell the eggplant pieces are done when they have a golden brown finish.

Olive oil's smoke point is 375 degrees Fahrenheit, making it perfectly safe for shallow pan frying. However, it is also expensive. Mixing it with vegetable oil to fry eggplant the way Nadia Caterina Munno fries hers benefits your pocketbook in addition to its taste. Foods fried in olive oil have a delicate, almost fruity flavor — you can definitely taste the difference.

That said, if you mix oils, you should remember that the smoke point of the mixture will be closer to the oil with the lower smoke point. This is because the oil with the lower smoking point will still start to break down and smoke first. When this happens, you will get that burnt taste, so be vigilant and do not walk away from your frying eggplant or your eggplant Parmesan recipe will suffer. Check out Daily Meal's ultimate guide to smoke points to learn more about oils and what contributes to determining at what temperature they start to smoke.