Recipe: Light and Saucy Eggplant Parmesan
Hello Mojonauts,
Tonight I hosted a writers group and tried out a new recipe for eggplant. It was a smash hit. Everyone wanted to know the recipe. I typed it up in an email and thought I'd also share it here.
1. Take two eggplants. Peel the fuck out of them. Slice them into rounds about the thickness of your pinky. If they are farm fresh, you're cool. If not, lay those bad boys out on some waxed paper and lightly salt them. Leave them that way for 30 minutes to an hour. This makes old eggplants taste like fresh eggplants. The secret ingredient is salt.
2. Get yourself some pasta sauce. I make mine from scratch but whatever. I hate tomatoes and so savor their torment as I slowly cook them. They deserve it.
3. Shred up a pound or two of fresh mozzarella. If you like cheese, use two pounds. Make sure it's fresh. Cured mozzarella makes Jesus cry.
4. Turn your oven on and set it to broil. Brush the eggplant discs with olive oil and lay them out on baking sheets. Broil for six minutes on each side.
5. Preheat the oven to 375.
6. Find a casserole dish in whatever cupboard or closet you hide yours in. Cover the bottom of the dish with a thin layer of sauce. Cover the sauce with a layer of eggplant. Cover the eggplant in a layer of cheese. Cover that cheese with a thin layer of sauce. Add another layer of eggplant and then sauce and then cheese. This should use up all of your cheese and sauce and eggplant. If not, you did something wrong. This is just ike that time you built that desk from IKEA and had four screws left over. The appropriate response is shame.
7. Bake for 30 minutes at 375. The cheese on top should melt, run together and get that delicious golden brown color that is nature's way of telling us we should put something in our mouths.
Addendum One: I put a ton of basil in my sauce. If your sauce is light on basil consider adding a layer of fresh basil somewhere in the middle of this recipe.
This makes an eggplant parm that is light and awesome. No heavily breaded fried food here. It's a bit soupy though, so consider serving some garlic bread with it.
