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The Smollett Siblings Share Their Family Recipe for Healthy Eggplant Parm Rounds

Tatiana Boncompagni
smollett family

Photo: Instagram/@jurneebell

If the family that cooks together stays together, then no family may be closer than the Smolletts. Piggy-backing on the success of their Food Network Show, Smollett Eats, the family of entertainment-industry over-achievers (siblings Jurnee and Jussie have starred in Empire, Friday Nights Lights, and Underground, while Jazz is a writer-producer, and Jake is a chef and host) have just released their first cookbook: The Family Table.

The title is a nod to the butcher-block table that their mother would recreate in each new home they lived in—the Smolletts moved 13 times growing up—and the central role that mealtime had in their family. “Food was our culture, it was the way we celebrated, the way that we gathered,” says Jazz Smollett-Warwell, a mom and entertaining expert. “We didn’t have a lot materially. At our birthday parties, there wasn’t a jump house, it was all about the food,” she says.

The Smollett’s multi-cultural background—their mom is African-American and their dad is Jewish from Eastern European decent—and childhood nomadic lifestyle is totally apparent in the super-eclectic collection of recipes. There’s everything from New Orleans-style oyster po’ boys and North African chicken and spinach stew to linguine Vongole and Cuban Picadillo. Plus, the meals are meant to serve a crowd. “We grew up with a family of eight. These are easy, hearty recipes, the recipes we grew up eating,” says Jake Smollett.

As kids, staying healthy was all about balance: There was always a fresh veggie on the table and no food was considered bad as long as it was made from scratch. “You can have anything you want as long as you cook it at home, ” says Jazz. It’s the effort that you put into making the food that makes it more of a mindful process and ensures that what you end up with—even if its peach cobbler or coconut cream-chocolate mousse—is wholesome.

But the biggest benefit of cooking as a family might just be what it teaches you about working together and supporting one another. And who couldn’t use a little more support from their siblings? “We grew up like a farm family. We are used to collaborating,” says Jake.

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Keep reading to get the recipe for eggplant parm pizza rounds, one of the stand-outs from the talented fam’s new cookbook.

Eggplant Parm Pizza Rounds

Inspired by an eggplant parm casserole the family ate growing up, this pretty appetizer pairs well with a chardonnay and cheese plate, says Jake. "The eggplant is sliced into thin rounds, fried crispy, and layered with sauce and cheese on top," he says.

  • Prep Time
  • Cook Time
  • Servings
    16 rounds

Ingredients

  • 1 eggplant
  • vegetable oil
  • 1 cup Parmesan cheese grated
  • 1 roma tomato cut into 16 thin slices
  • 1 handful fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced

For the dry batter

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup Parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 tsp basil
  • 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt

For the egg batter

  • 3 eggs
  • 1 tsp fine sea salt
  • 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

For the tomato sauce

  • 4 garlic cloves chopped
  • 2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 cup tomato paste
  • 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
  • 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

Instructions

Recipe Notes

From The Family Table by Jazz Smollett-Warwell, Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Jake Smollett, Jussie Smollett. Copyright © 2018 by Smollett Collective. Reprinted by permission of William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. For more healthy dishes that feed the whole family, check out this vegan one-pot meal and this creamy, coconut corn dish.
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