Wow! This is really good. I have an abundance of eggplant in the garden--the long, thin variety--along with tomatoes, basil, green peppers, and onions. So I picked all of them tonight and created this spectacular version of eggplant parmesan. Which is really eggplant, parmesan and mozzarella with tomato sauce.
This dish typically has eggplant slices dipped in egg and bread crumbs and then sauteed before baking with tomato sauce and the cheeses. But I skipped the bread crumbs and eggs and this dish is so good, I'll never bread the eggplant again!
Slice into 1/2 thick pieces, 1 large eggplant or 5-6 long, thin eggplant. Brush with olive oil, season with salt and pepper and grill. I used my cast iron grill pan (a Christmas present long ago from Perry).
I then made a fresh tomato sauce by sauteing onions, green peppers and garlic in olive oil until they began to soften. Use 2 cups prepared sauce if not making fresh sauce.In a saucepan, saute until the vegetables begin to soften:
3 T oil
1 medium onion, chopped,
1 medium green pepper, chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
Add and simmer about 15 minutes until it began to thicken:
3 c fresh, chopped tomatoes
3T fresh basil
2 T fresh oregano
salt and pepper to taste
For the final preparation:
3/4 c fresh parmesan
3/4 c sliced or grated mozzarella
In a medium sized oiled baking pan add 1/2 c of the sauce, layered with the 1/2 the eggplant, topped with enough freshly grated parmesan to cover the eggplant, then topped with thin slices of fresh mozzarella and 1/2 of the remaining sauce. Then I did this same layer again--sauce, eggplant, cheeses--and again ending with the tomato sauce.
Into a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes until it was bubbly and beginning to brown. There won't be any leftovers!
1 comment:
Great. Loved it. I did sweat the eggplant slices first with sea salt though, so mine was a little salty. Don't have a skillet, do I? But this is delicious and a much healthier alternative to traditional breadcrumbs and deep-frying.
Post a Comment