Meal o' Love 2: Eggplant Parmesan

If someone would have told me two years ago that Tony's favorite home-cooked meal (of mine, at least), was eggplant parmesan, I would have scoffed, snorted and downright laughed. Tony is a "red meat and 'taters" kind of guy, although he doesn't complain whenever I try and sneak in a vegetarian meal here and there. The only exception to this rule occurs when the vegetarian meal contains tofu, at which point Tony graciously eats everything except the tofu, and then goes to Subway.

Anyway, for the birthday/Valentine's day dinner I cooked for the hubatron, I pulled out the stops and made this recipe of eggplant parmesan. It's gooey, delicious, and smothered with nummy calories. And, boy, was it worth it. We were about 4 glasses of wine into the evening by the time we ate this dinner, and it tasted better than ever :).

I hope y'all like it as much as we do!

Eggplant Parmesan

Ingredients:

1 medium eggplant
salt and pepper
2 eggs, yolks broken and incorporated
1-2 cups Italian bread crumbs
1/4-1/2 cup of canola oil
1 bottle of favorite marinara sauce
1/3 lb mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided
1/4 lb parmesan cheese, grated and divided
1/2 Tbs basil, divided


Procedure:

1. Peel the eggplant and cut into 1/2" thick slices. Make a mixture of salt and pepper and dip each slice into the mixture. Stack the slices on a plate, cover with another plate and weight down the top plate with a full can of whatever you have in your pantry. You need to apply pressure on the eggplant for about 30 minutes in order for a bitter, purple liquid to come out. Place the weighted stack in the fridge for 30 minutes. Drain and discard the dark liquid on the bottom of the plate.

2. Heat about half of the canola oil in the iron skillet (use as much as you need depending on the size of the skillet--remember, you're frying here!) on medium-high heat. Preheat the oven to 350F.

3. Coat the eggplant slices in egg and then in the breadcrumbs. Warning: this is a bit messy. Wait until the oil is hot (you can test this by sprinkling a few breadcrumbs in the oil to see if they sizzle), and then place the coated eggplant slices in the skillet. Wait until the bottom is a light brown, then carefully flip using tongs or a fork. Both sides should be a light (or dark, if you're like me and you like it crispy!) brown.

4. Coat a 9"x13" glass pan with cooking spray. Coat the bottom of the dish first with a thin layer of marinara sauce.

5. Layer the eggplant, thin slices of mozzarella, grated parmesan and a light sprinkling of basil. Coat the top with another layer of pasta sauce. Repeat until all the eggplant is used. Finish by layering on mozzarella and a healthy amount of parmesan.

6. Bake uncovered for about 25-30 minutes, or until cheese is gooey and the sauce is bubbling.

7. Enjoy all that hard work!