Eggplant Parmesan

Introduction:

I bet you thought we’d forgotten all about blogging. That’s what happens when you have two busy college kids at the end of a semester. For this post, we decided to do a vegetarian dish that everybody will love (even people who don’t really like eggplant). I mean, cheese, sauce, breading, how can you go wrong? All in all it’s another fairly easy recipe, although breading and baking the eggplant can be slightly time consuming. In this case having somebody to help you can make the process a LOT easier!

Ingredients:

• 1 large eggplant
• 8 oz mozzarella cheese
• 1 jar of your favorite store bought or homemade sauce
• 3-4 eggs
• 2 cups breadcrumbs
• cooking spray
• 1 onion (optional)
• 2 cloves garlic (optional)
• 1/2 lb pasta

*This recipe makes one 8×8 tray of eggplant and will feed 2-3 people.  Also, it can easily be doubled and reheats very well!

Cooking Instructions:

1.  Take care of all the prep work.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Shred the cheese, chop and sauté the onion and garlic.

Put the sauce, garlic and onion into a saucepan on low heat.

2.  Cut the eggplant into thin slices (~1/4 inch thick) and dry with paper towels.  You can peel the skin off or leave it on, but we usually leave it on.

Next, dip the eggplant into the egg and then into the breadcrumbs, coating both sides.  Place breaded eggplant slices onto baking sheet spaced far enough apart so they’re not touching.

When tray is full, lightly spray the tops of the eggplant with cooking spray so that they get crispy.  Bake for 7 minutes, and then flip, spraying the eggplant again so this side can get crispy as well.  Bake for 7 more minutes and then remove from tray.

3.  When all your eggplant is done cooking, put a pot of water on to boil. Begin assembling everything together.  First, put a light layer of sauce in the pan.  Then try to cover the entire bottom of the pan with eggplant.

Next, lightly cover the eggplant with more sauce and then sprinkle cheese.

Repeat this order until you’ve used up all of your eggplant.

4. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and place into oven. After 15 minutes, remove the foil and let cook for an additional 5 minutes (or until the cheese gets golden and bubbly). Start cooking your pasta when the water comes to a boil. While the eggplant is cooking in the oven, prepare and cook your green veggie.

5. Once everything is done cooking, prepare and serve your delicious meal. Congratulations, you did it!

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