Eggplant Parmesan

Hey Lauren,

This recipe is good as a meal on its own, or as a side.  I served it with steak, roasted beets, and broccoli at a dinner party last night. as result, I never did get a good picture to use as the finished product.


Shopping list:

Neutral vegetable oil for deep frying
1 cup Chick Pea Flour (chana)
1 cup grated - Parmesan cheese
1 large - Eggplant
handful - Fresh Basil
1/2 head - Garlic
3 tbsp - Italian Seasoning
1/4 cup chopped fresh - Italian Parsley
1 ball - Fresh soft mozza (bonus for buffalo)
10-12 medium - Tomatoes
(not pictured: 1 egg  & 1 cup milk )

Slice eggplant (I used a mandolin at 3 mm thickness)
Lay out on paper towel

Salt the eggplant this will draw out the moisture.
Leave the eggplant drying for at least 30 minutes.

chop parsley

Add Parsley, Italian seasoning and a few heavy pinches of salt for the dry dredge.  In another container, scramble the egg and milk with a pinch of salt

Tomatoes - need to be peeled

In a pan of  boiling water, cut a small x in the bottom

Turn the tomatoes over

When they split,  remove them to a bowl & drain the water.

peel the tomatoes (the skin should come off in your hand)
cut the cores out, and add them back to the pan
break the tomatoes up with a wooden spoon

chop up half a head's worth of garlic cloves and add to the tomatoes

Notice how the pictures before only showed 5 tomatoes... that was a mistake.
I had to add a can of tomatoes to get enough sauce -- OOPS!

Also, at this time add vegetable oil to a cast iron skillet 2-3 cm deep, and get it hot (375ºF)

pat the eggplant dry with a paper towel, then dust them in the dry mix.
shake off excess 

into the wet 

both sides, and let the excess drip off 

back into the dry coat fully

fry all the eggplant this way until golden brown and delicious

You may want to stop at this point.  The eggplant tastes amazing!

In a lasagna pan, put a small amount of the tomato sauce and spread it all around

layer like a lasagna - eggplant, tomato sauce

1/4 cup parmesan

1/2 the mozza ball & basil

Add another layer and to the same way.

the third layer shouldn't have any mozza or basil, and should have a 1/2 cup parmesan covering the top

Into a 450ºF oven until cooked.  Slice and serve like a lasagna. Garnish with fresh basil