Post by michaelll on Jul 16, 2015 2:26:15 GMT
Ingredients: These portions are for six servings
2 large Black Beauty Eggplants
3 eggs
all purpose flour
Italian bread crumbs
2 jars of Paul Newman's Sockarooni
2 large or 4 small "homegrown" tomatoes (a large can of crushed tomatoes if you can't get homegrown)
1 tablespoon of minced garlic
1 teaspoon of oregano, basil, and parsley
1 teaspoon of salt and pepper
1 teaspoon of sugar (use Stevia if Leaning for Green)
Canola oil
Lg Bag of Parmesan cheese
Lg Bag of Mozzarella cheese
Okay, here is how it goes:
First, to get the sauce cooking you'll want to crush the tomatoes in a food processor but don't crush them into puree. Let them have plenty of pulp left for flavoring purposes. Then put them in a sauce pan/pot along with the Sockarooni, garlic, spices, salt and pepper, sugar and let them cook (stirring occasionally) about medium heat for about 10 minutes or so and then cut the heat back to low while you cook the eggplant.
Preparing the eggplant is easy peasy. I prefer skinning or peeling the eggplant but it doesn't matter. After cutting the top and the bottom off the eggplant, slice it about 3/16 of an inch. You will get several slices from the two eggplants. You'll need to then stir the eggs and put them in a bowl big enough to dip the slices of eggplant into. You will also need another bowl to mix the flour and breadcrumbs together. After dipping the slices of eggplant in the eggs, you will then dredge them in the flour/bread crumb mix. I have found that it works best to prepare all the slices for frying before you get started cooking them.
Cooking the eggplant is a cinch. Use a large pan (to cook as many slices at a time as possible) and use the oil of your choice. We use Canola in my home, not because I am endorsing Canola, but because its the kind the wifee buys. I cook the prepared eggplant slices in medium high heat and cook each side golden to dark brown. The crispier the better.
Okay after cooking the eggplant, here's how you put it together. Take a 9 by 13 baking pan and put a thin layer of sauce on the bottom. Then a layer of eggplant slices. Then parmesan cheese, then mozzarella cheese. Then more sauce, more eggplant slices, more parmesan cheese, more mozzarella. You get the idea, just keep layering it as you please. Just remember, its the sauce and the cheese that make this bad boy so be generous with both until you get about 3/4" from the top. You don't want to have overflow when you are baking. Cook at 350 for about 30 to 35 minutes. I like to finish my layering with cheese on the top to give the parm a golden brownish appearance. Every oven is different so I'd start looking at your dish after 30 minutes.
Finally, from start to finish this endeavor will take about a hour and fifteen minutes. But I assure you it will be worth every minute. If I can do this, you can as well.