The best eggplant parmigiana ever!

[bif]

Made this the other night and it was simply amazing!

http://cookingwiththemark.blogspot.com

Ingredients

EGGPLANT
2 medium sized eggplants sliced into 1/2 inch rounds
kosher salt
4-5 cups bread crumbs
1 cup parmesan cheese
1 cup flour
5 eggs, beaten
olive oil

SAUCE
3 14 oz. cans crushed tomatoes
olive oil
1/2 c red wine
1/2 medium size onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced\1 T oregano
1 t black pepper

12 oz mozzarella cheese, grated
1/2. parmesan cheese, grated

Directions
Okay, I admit it, the directions are long and time consuming, but in the end, it's well worth it. Slice the eggplant, toss with a liberal (as opposed to conservative) amount of salt in a colander and let drain in the sink for 45 minutes. Make sauce: In a medium sized pot, sauté onion in olive oil until translucent. Add garlic and cook for a minute or two. Then add tomatoes, pepper and oregano and simmer for about 10 minutes until sauce thickens slightly. Turn off heat and let cool.

Wipe salt off eggplant slices and place on paper towels to dry. Then put half the slices in a large plastic bag with flour and shake to coat them. Remove and repeat with remaining slices. Combine bread crumbs with a cup of parmesan cheese on a plate. Coat two cookie sheets with olive oil. Dip the eggplant slices in the beaten eggs, dredge in the bread crumbs and place on the cookie sheets. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes at 425° for 30 minutes. Flip slices after 20 minutes.

Assemblage
In a 9x13 baking pan, pour about a cup of the tomato sauce. Then place a layer of eggplant. Cover with a cup or two of sauce and top with a generous amount of mozzarella. Add remaining eggplant. Then dot each slice with a spoonful of sauce and cover with mozzarella and parmesan cheese. Bake for 20 minutes until cheese is bubbly and nicely browned. Let cool for 10 minutes before serving.

[patricia92243]

1. Eggplant in my garden is about four inches tall - will definitely try this receipe

later - sounds and looks delicious.

[NRaleighLiberal]

2. I actually do a healthier variation.....

and don't ever find a need to salt the eggplant (then again, I only use the eggplant I grow).

I peel and slice the eggplant at about 1/4 inch thick, dip in a beaten egg/milk mixture and bread them with bread crumbs - then bake at 400 for 20 minutes to crisp them nicely (at this stage, they can be cooled, put into freezer bags and frozen for up to a year with no loss of quality - we make bags of them so we can eat them whenever we want).

Then I use them as you describe with the sauce and cheese layering.