It was eCAHN a few days ago who was speaking of this veggie and reminded me of how good it can be if handled properly. As she mentioned, it CAN be like cardboard!

eCAHN, thanks for the inspiration! *G*

However, with some simple care and love, and decent ingredients one can make this dish a heavenly delight!

Ingredients

  • Eggplant
  • A GOOD marinara (homemade)
  • Bread crumbs/panko, whatever
  • Seasonings for the crumbs (stick to Italian!)
  • Seasoned flour, egg wash
  • Ricotta (whip it up to soften and aerate, season if ya want with basil, rosemary, anything)
  • Buffalo Milk Mozzerella
  • Parmigiano Reggiano
  • Fresh, ripe tomatoes of your choice
  • Bermuda Onion

Prep

  • Peel eggplant and slice into ¾ inch ovals (lengthwise)
  • Salt rounds on both sides (sea salt)
  • Lay onto sheet pan for an hour
  • Drain the liquids (all the acids also leech out!)
  • Pat dry with towels or paper towels
  • Flour one slice at a time
  • Dip in egg wash
  • Dip in seasoned bread crumbs/panko
  • Saute in half clarified butter/half EVOO
  • Brown, remove from pan and set on paper towels to drain

Assembly

  • Glass baking dish of appropriate size per volume of eggplant
  • Brush butter/EVOO on bottom
  • ½ inch layer of marinara sauce
  • Lay eggplant down to cover bottom of dish
  • Schmear ricotta over eggplant
  • Layer sliced tomatoes over ricotta
  • Cover with shredded buffalo milk mozzerella
  • Layer red onion slices to cover
  • Another layer ¼ inch marinara (continue alternating layers, see comments)
  • Layer thin sliced Parmigiano Reggiano to cover
  • Cover, bake at 375F for 20 min or until hot
  • Remove cover, brown cheese on top
  • Cool for 5 minutes and plate using metal serving spatula.
  • Serve with pesto pasta and garnish with fresh basil sprigs.

Tips

  • Use dried herbs to season bread/panko crumbs (add garlic powder)
  • Use sourgough, artisan nut breads or your choice of bread
  • If fresh, slice or cube, dry in oven and then use processor to grind into crumbs
  • I like basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme (add red chili flakes if desired)
  • I like to put the herbs to a processor and grind them up finely
  • Use fresh chopped basil or rosemary and some garlic in ricotta
  • OR; put pesto into ricotta and whip (be light with pesto)

A Thought

Make eggplant sticks, flour, egg and bread and bake or sauté.

But salt them and drain them before assembly.

Various zucchinis and squash can be sliced, salted, drained and handled the same as eggplant parm or eggplant sticks. Baked or pan sauted a great appertizer.

Making a decent marinara is a whole different post in and of itself!

Mangiamo dia bono!

[Photo: The promise of melanzana parmigiana to come! Eggplants! (source: Esteban Cavrico via Flickr)]