Recipe: Eggplant Parmesan

For those who have never experienced Eggplant Parmesan (a classic and tasty Italian dish), well, it's never to late to start tasting new foods! The eggplant is in the nightshade family - therefore a relative of the tomato and potato! - and people have traced it's origins back to India. I've come across many people that don't really know what it exactly is, or what to do with it, so I've decided to put this simple, delicious recipe down. Before you go "egg-plant" (it doesn't sound appetizing, I know) - know that this lovely vegetable-that-is-technically-a-berry has a most wonderful, complex and very un-eggy taste.

Prepwork:

For the Sauce:

20 oz. crushed tomatoes (pureed, unspiced canned varieties work as well if you are producing the tomatoes from scratch)

1/2-1 tsp salt (I like coarse grind kosher salt)

2 tsp dried Italian leaf parsley (3 oz fresh)

1 tsp dried sweet basil (5 good-sized fresh leaves)

1 tsp granulated garlic (2 cloves, finely chopped)

2 tblsp olive oil

sprinkle of black pepper

sprinkle of dried rosemary (or the leaves of one 3inch stalk of fresh rosemary)

splash of balsamic vinegar.

These are rough estimations - feel free to play with the taste to make it as you like it. Throw the tomatoes into a small saucepan on meduim-high heat, add the oil, garlic and vinegar. Let sit for about ten minutes, until heated and garlic (if fresh) is cooked. Put everything else in! Let this simmer for a little while, covered, while you prepare the eggplant!

The Eggplant:

3 large fresh eggplant!

2-3 eggs, whisked in a bowl

a plate of breadcrumbs, with more in reserve.

Peel the eggplant if you wish. Some people like the skin, some don't. Cut width-wise into slices 1/2 inch thick. Dip each slice into egg and cover with breadcrumbs. Put each slice into an oiled baking dish (brownie pans work great). This may take more than one batch to cook if your pan is too small. Cook each batch in a oven set to 375 (325 convection) degrees for 20 minutes.

To Finish:

In a casserole dish, spread the bottom with the sauce. Lay the eggplant slices along the bottom. Add more sauce and spread on top. Then add the cheese (parmesan - but mozzarella and romano work). Add the next layer of eggplant, sauce, cheese. Continue this process until you're either out of eggplant or you've run out of room in the dish (the latter a good thing... extra eggplant slices means eggplant paninis!). If you have mozzarella on hand, I like to layer it on the very top because it melts all nice-like. Cover dish with foil and put back in over for 30 minutes.

This dish goes very well with red wine or white wine and a nice slice of Italian bread. Mangia!