So after yesterday, we’re back to what we do best: recipes.  (Yay recipes!)  This post was inspired by my Twitter buddy @fiftiesguy, who once told me, to my absolute horror, he wasn’t a big fan of eggplant.  Once I recovered from my complete shock, I promised I would create, espeically for him, this recipe:

Eggplant Parmesan

Eggplant is one of those vegetables that you either love or you think you despise.  Sadly, given my culinary experience, I find that there are far more of the latter than the former.  The only explanation I have for this disturbing trend is that those who say they don’t like it haven’t had good eggplant.

Cue the calvary charge music…

Eggplant Parmesan with Spaghetti

To make my eggplant parmesan, you’re going to bake and/or fry the eggplant in batter first.  Then you layer it in a baking dish with marinara and cheese and bake the whole thing until its bubbly and juicy and amazing.

You will need:

• 1 eggplant
• 2 cups flour
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoon garlic powder, divided
• Oil from frying
• 4 cups marinara
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella
• Parmesan cheese
• 4 servings cooked spaghetti

Peel the eggplant and cut into 1/4 inch thick slices.  Sprinkle with salt on both sides and put on a cooling rack or plate lined with paper towels for 15 minutes.  This is going draw the water out of the eggplant and make it much less squishy.

While the salt is drawing out the water from the eggplant, mix the flour, milk, egg, salt, and 1 tablespoon of garlic powder until the batter is smooth.

Once the 15 minutes is up, pat the eggplant dry with paper towels and dip them in the batter.  Let the eggplant rest for 5 minutes to form a crust.

While the eggplant is resting, heat the oil to 350 degrees or high heat.  Deep fry the eggplant until the crust is golden brown, about 1-2 minutes.  Once done, put the eggplant back on the cooling rack or fresh paper towels to drain the oil.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Mix the remaining the garlic powder in the marinara.

In a lasagna pan or other baking dish, create the eggplant parmesan by layering sauce then eggplant then mozzarella and repeating.  There should be enough eggplant for 2-3 layers depending on the length of your pan.

Top with a generous amount of parmesan cheese and bake until the cheese melts and gets nice and brown.

Serve with a side of spaghetti and enjoy!

Note:

If you want, what I like to do is bake the battered eggplant for 10 minutes and then pan fry it in olive oil.  It’s an extra step, but the eggplant is so much crispier and tastier.  It’s purely optional and adds about 20 minutes to the cooking time.