eggplant parmesan

Eggplant Parmesan

It's a great time of the year to pluck an eggplant or two. The price is right. My favorite dish, is the Eggplant Parmesan. It's a busy job, so prepare your workstation. Use gloves to avoid the messy. You will need: Buttermilk, Bread Crumbs, and Seasoned flour.

On occasion I prepare the 'wet' ingredient of a flax egg. Any substitutions are okay as long as you understand that I can barely assure you that if you follow this preparation that your results will resemble mine. I certainly cannot stamp my approval on a complete recipe makeover. Follow carefully the first time and adjust at a later day.

Ingredients
1 large eggplant, cut 1/2 inch thick slices (discard the stem and base)
salt
buttermilk
seasoned breadcrumbs
seasoned flour
Olive oil for frying
pasta sauce (make your own or use a commercial brand of your choice)
Mozzarella cheese

other
baking pan
frying pan
cookie sheet

Eggplant Parmesan over
Whole Grain spaghetti with
gluten-free Cheesy Garlic toast

Preparation.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

The purpose of the salt is to sweat your sliced eggplant in order to release the water or as much as possible. In doing so, you will avoid a soggy dish. Assemble your slices on a cookie sheet and sprinkle salt on each side. After 2 hours, they should be ready to go.

Heat oil and reduce temp to medium high. Shake slices, individually in seasoned flour, then dip into buttermilk, and finally toss into bread crumbs. Set aside, repeat. You will fry each side of the eggplant slices until brown. Blot with paper towels. Repeat this process until all slices are browned. Place a layer of sauce at the base of your baking dish.

Place slices in shingle fashion sprinkling cheese then adding sauce. Repeat. On top, apply sauce and a layer of cheese. Sprinkle dried basil. Cover with foil. Bake in the oven for 30-45 minutes covered but tent the foil to avoid sticking. In the last minutes, remove foil and continue to bake until cheese is toasted.


Remove from oven. Cover and set for 10 minutes. Serve with pasta, cheese sticks, salad, or whatever you choose. Enjoy!