By Emily
My friend was over for a play date and we got to talking about food, of course. She said she was going home to do her "once a season" eggplant parm extravaganza, where she makes 3 batches and freezes it all separately: the breaded/fried eggplant, the mozz, and a few bags of sauce. When she wants "fresh" eggplant parm, she throws it all together and cooks it. What a good idea! That is, if you have a few hours to do all that work without a 17 month old tugging at your legs. I only had about an hour and a half before my son woke up, so I had time for just one batch... Earlier, I went to Fiore's in Hoboken for the homemade mozz (bought SO much, the rest is in the freezer) and a farmers market for my sauce (cheater, I know!) and eggplants, and backyard for my basil - I'm very proud of my thriving urban herb garden!!!
Serves 4
You'll need:
2 medium sized eggplants
4 eggs beaten up in a bowl, may need more
2 cups flour in another bowl with S & P to season the flour
2 cups breadcrumbs in a third bowl, again you may need more depending on how much eggplant you have
1/2 c. olive oil for frying eggplant
2 quarts of spaghetti sauce or marinara of your choice, works best with a thinner sauce b/c it thickens upon cooking with the eggplant, and may want more for serving
1 lb. fresh mozzarella, sliced thick
1/2 c. grated parmesan (maybe more for serving)
approx. 8 basil leaves julienned
salt & pepper
To Make:
Slice eggplants very thin, about 1/8" thick or even thinner.Heavily salt the sliced eggplant and let sit for about 20-30 minutes to remove the bitterness that sometimes comes with the seeds of a big eggplant, until you see the eggplant "sweating". Rinse and pat dry.
You'll need:
2 medium sized eggplants
4 eggs beaten up in a bowl, may need more
2 cups flour in another bowl with S & P to season the flour
2 cups breadcrumbs in a third bowl, again you may need more depending on how much eggplant you have
1/2 c. olive oil for frying eggplant
2 quarts of spaghetti sauce or marinara of your choice, works best with a thinner sauce b/c it thickens upon cooking with the eggplant, and may want more for serving
1 lb. fresh mozzarella, sliced thick
1/2 c. grated parmesan (maybe more for serving)
approx. 8 basil leaves julienned
salt & pepper
To Make:
Slice eggplants very thin, about 1/8" thick or even thinner.Heavily salt the sliced eggplant and let sit for about 20-30 minutes to remove the bitterness that sometimes comes with the seeds of a big eggplant, until you see the eggplant "sweating". Rinse and pat dry.
Cover each dry eggplant slice in flour, then eggs, then breadcrumbs.
On Medium heat, fry up each slice of eggplant until golden brown on each side. Let "dry" on paper towels.
Meanwhile slice up fresh mozzarella.
Arrange all the cooked/dryed eggplant in a baking dish. Cover all eggplant in baking dish with marinara/tomato sauce until covered, then top with fresh mozzarella slices.
Finally, garnish the finished dish with salt & pepper, basil & parmesan.
Wrap & fridge until ready to cook. You can make this a day in advance or freeze it.
When ready to cook: 375' for 45 min. until top is slightly browned and bubbly. If top doesn't brown a little, put under broiler under a close eye for maybe 5 minutes. Make sure it doesn't burn!
When ready to cook: 375' for 45 min. until top is slightly browned and bubbly. If top doesn't brown a little, put under broiler under a close eye for maybe 5 minutes. Make sure it doesn't burn!
