Thursday, August 06, 2009

Easy Eggplant Parm

As requested, here is the recipe for the eggplant parm that I made the other night (and am still happily eating for lunch today):

It should first be noted that I thought I had two eggplants left from my CSA pile. I only had one. So I substituted an "avocado zucchini" (not sure if that is the technical term, but it looks like this) for one of the eggplants. It ended up being a great way to mix up flavors, though I was certainly worried at first! (This is why I don't bake well-I constantly substitute).

Anyway, simply slice the eggplant and zucchini. I didn't bother with the whole salt/sweating of the eggplant, since it would be cooked twice.

Then, set up a classic breading station: bowl of flour, bowl of egg wash (egg + water), bowl of bread crumbs. Dunk each piece in flour, egg, then breadcrumbs. It is messy and there is no way around that, no matter how smoothly Giada does it on TV.

Heat up some oil in a frying pan, and brown the veggies. You can see that my breading technique was not perfect; since the pieces were going into a parmesan anyway, I figured it really didn't matter.

Then, layer sauce, veggies, mozzarella, sauce, veggies, mozzarella, etc. until you've used up your vegetables. Don't worry about it not being in perfect layers. If you use eggplant and zucchini, try to alternate layers so that you don't end up with a just zucchini or just eggplant piece. Top with some parmesan if you have some, then bake at 350 degrees until the cheese is starting to brown at the top, about 30 minutes (just enough time to wash the zillion dishes you had to use for the breading technique). Let it cool and set before eating.

I totally had seconds.

5 comments:

  1. Yum! It looks delicious. Can you tell that I am now catching up on blog reading? It's been a busy week with Catherine & the kids and also getting ready for the school year...

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  2. Anonymous12:15 AM

    Sounds mouth-watering... Can't wait to try it.

    Great blog by the way--don't remember how I stumbled upon it, but I keep checking back and am never disappointed. Keep it up, you're an absolute joy to read!

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  3. Calvine, if you have leftovers...drop them off at my apartment before you head to Charleston! Looks delicious!

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  4. Anonymous6:41 PM

    how much is a "container" of tomato sauce?

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  5. I was thinking of a medium to large size jar of tomato sauce - you probably need 2 or 3 cups total.

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