Fish and Eggplant Casserole

Name: Fish and Eggplant Casserole with Cheese – Baked Fish Recipe
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1 h 10 min
Cuisine: European
Ingredients: Fish 0.5 kg; Eggplant 1; Red bell pepper 2; Onion 1; Carrot 1; Garlic 2 cloves; Vegetable oil 0.5 cup; Hard cheese 50 g; Lemon juice 1 tbsp; Flour for dredging the fish; Salt, black pepper, dried herbs to taste; Fresh parsley and basil to taste; Parmesan optional, for serving

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1 h 10 mins

The Soviet years, and that unforgettable, steady taste of a kindergarten casserole made from cottage cheese or “Soviet” vermicelli. It felt like those casseroles were everywhere: in every canteen, every cheap café, every public eatery.

One respected catering worker of the time once admitted that the casserole was a kind of lifesaver, a way to get rid of stale and expired products. It was also a fine way to make off with part of the good ingredients, such as cottage cheese and quality vermicelli, replacing them with cheap and available semolina. But time goes on, and those casseroles have sunk into oblivion.

In the old days, “zapekanka” was the name for a superb fruit liqueur. It was made with spices, berries and dried fruit, baked in a hot stove in clay pots sealed tightly shut.

Fish baked with eggplant and vegetables under cheese is not hard to make while vegetables are still in season. All the ingredients are easy to find, and the cooking does not take long. It is no harder than making Bulgarian moussaka.

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Ingredients

2 servings

Fish 0.5 kg
Eggplant 1
Red bell pepper 2
Onion 1
Carrot 1
Garlic 2 cloves
Vegetable oil 0.5 cup
Hard cheese 50 g
Lemon juice 1 tbsp
Flour for dredging the fish
Salt, black pepper, dried herbs to taste
Fresh parsley and basil to taste
Parmesan optional, for serving

Step-by-step recipe

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Prepare and marinate the fish

Any fish will do: trout, salmon, zander, perch or any white fish, including freshwater. It is best to take a whole fish of about 0.5 kg that can be cut lengthwise into 2 halves.
Clean the fish: scale it, cut off the fins and gut it, then cut off the head and tail. With kitchen scissors, snip the rib bones inside the belly cavity right next to the backbone, then cut the fish lengthwise into two halves, removing the backbone. Carefully trim away all the small bones around the fins, the rib bones and so on.
Marinate the fish: peel and finely chop two cloves of garlic. Rub the garlic over the fish fillets, salt the fish on the inside, add pepper, sprinkle with dried herbs and drizzle with 1 tbsp lemon juice. Put the halves together skin side out and leave to marinate for 30 mins.

Fry the vegetables and fish

Fry the eggplant: while the fish marinates, slice it into thin rounds, leaving the skin on, and fry in vegetable oil over medium heat until golden.
Cook the vegetables: in the same pan, fry the coarsely chopped red bell pepper, the carrot cut into rounds and the onion cut into strips. Cover and stew without water over the lowest heat until the carrot is soft.
Fry the fish: dredge the pieces of fish in flour and fry in vegetable oil in a separate pan over medium heat until golden brown.

Assemble and bake

Lay the eggplant layer: grease a baking dish with vegetable oil and lay half of the fried eggplant in it in a single layer. Add salt and pepper and sprinkle with finely chopped parsley and basil.
Add the remaining layers: lay the pieces of fish on top and sprinkle with herbs again.
Cover the fish completely with the fried mixture of onion, red pepper and carrot, and top with the remaining eggplant rounds.
Sprinkle with the remaining herbs.
Bake uncovered in an oven preheated to 220°C for 30 mins.
Bake under cheese: sprinkle the fish and eggplant with grated hard cheese.
Return to the oven for another 10 mins. In that time the cheese melts and forms a crust.

Serving

The fish with eggplant and vegetables under cheese is ready. You can also sprinkle it with very finely grated Parmesan and garnish with herbs.

Calories and macros

815 kcal

Serving ≈ 520 g

Protein55 g28% of kcal
Fat55 g63% of kcal
Carbs18 g9% of kcal

100 g157 kcalProtein 10.5 gFat 10.7 gCarbs 3.5 g

Calculated from the recipe ingredients, excluding salt and spices. Data: USDA and Matvaretabellen.

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