This is a recipe I learned from my friend Jamie Thompson in NYC, obviously I have to give her the proper credit, otherwise she may actually come after me with an actual eggplant (you know how insane these chef's can be). All jokes aside, J makes some of the best tasting food I've ever had...after my mommy and my H's mommy. Sorry J-dizzle! Anyway...enough with the insults:) One of her specialties is her Eggplant Parmesan, so this is me 'BORROWING' her style. Here we go:
In order to make this fabulous meal you need:
1 Eggplant
Fresh Mozzarella Cheese (1 boll - You know what I mean:)
Fresh Graded Parmesan Cheese
3 Eggs
Italian Bread Crumbs
Olive Oil
Vegetable Oil
Pasta
Home Made Marinara Sauce (emphasis of the home made, I don't play around with jar-sauce)
When I cook I like to prep my ingredients before I start gourmet-ing it.
Start with peeling and washing the eggplant...you may not have to wash it after you peel it, but I do, psycho like that. Whatever. Then you slice it. Cut it in thinner pieces and make sure you end up with even numbers, i.e. 14 or 12...you get the idea.
Get the eggs and the breadcrumbs ready. You will dip the slices of eggplant in the eggs and then on to the breadcrumbs. (Eggs should be in a bowl and the breadcrumbs in a larger plate)
Slice the mozzarella in thinner pieces and place the parmesan in a bowl.
Once all your slices have been breaded proceed to the frying pan. I personally don't like using too much oil but frying involves oil so do it at your own discretion. You want a browned look, as when you fry chicken:) Once that process has been completed and all of your slices have been fried (on both sides) you are now ready to "build" your eggplant. Preheat the oven for a few min at 350. Grab a baking pan and put a little bit of the home made marinara sauce in the bottom (HOME MADE) just saying. Place one slice of eggplant in the bottom, pour sauce on top, followed by a slice of mozzarella, then parmesan cheese, then another slice of eggplant, topped of with a slice of mozzarella and some parmesan. You can stack them in threes but it tends to get a little too rich if you do that. Repeat the process until all is done....the off to the oven it goes. Let it bake for 18 minutes...but I would check it as these are guesstimates:) You can serve it with a great sallad or aaaspaghetti
Enjoy!
Smooch-i-baba!
