A very wonderful Monday morning to you all! I can’t believe how fast the weekend goes…it amazes me! It is once again time for a meatless treat. As you all know every day is meatless here : ) Today I am sharing probably one of my most favorite foods in the world. Eggplant Parm! Nothing makes me smile more than a crusty piece of delicious Italian bread…a hot and gooey casserole of Eggplant Parm and yes…a great glass of red wine…LOVE IT!!! I also found some favorite recipes out there in the blogosphere for you! I urge everyone to experiment with eggplant…it is truly a wonderful vegetable with tons of different possibilities! Bone Appetit!
Everyone has there own method of making this dish…I am going to just walk you through what I do and you can figure out the proportions that you need for the amount you are making.
1. I pick a firm eggplant, one with no soft spots…a beautiful medium sized eggplant with a nice shine.
Please stay away from those really large eggplants as they can be tasteless and just not a good
thing!
2. I peel my eggplant. I love eating my eggplant without pulling out an occasional skin : )
3. I then slice my pieces about 1/4″ each and place them on a baking sheet lines with paper towels.
4. I then salt them…cover them with a tea towel and place either a brick wrapped in tin foil or a
heavy cast iron pan and let it sit for an hour or two. This draws the bitterness out of the eggplant.
(I have to be honest though…if i cut into the eggplant and it is white and firm and barely no seeds,
I just start preparing it with out this step.)
5. Now rinse your eggplants off and pat dry and you are ready to prepare!
6. Place three bowls on the counter.
a. a bowl with seasoned flour (salt, pepper)
b. beaten egg with a touch of milk whisked in
c. seasoned bread crumbs with some delicious grated pecorino romano added in
7. Now the fun begins. Take a piece of your eggplant place it in the seasoned flour and gently pat
both side till covered and then shake off excess flower…
8. Dip the piece into the egg wash…let the excess drip…
9. Then place in the bread crumb mixture and cover both sides and now repeat…repeat…repeat…
10. What I really love to do now is place all of my prepared eggplant pieces into the fridge for a
few hours. What this does is firms everything up and makes for much more clean frying. This
step in my opinion is very important. There is hardly any crumb build-up in the oil and the pieces
are crisp and firm.
11. It is now time to fry! I always go to my cast iron large frying pan. Regardless how many new
frying pans I add to my collection…this is always my go to pan! I place about 1 inch of canola
oil in the pan…you can use your oil of choice…I also love to use peanut oil. Remember…olive oil
is not really a very good choice because it can not handle the high temps and it smokes
extremely quickly. You will know when it is the right temp when you place a tiny piece into the
hot oil and it will sizzle…it is time to fry!!!!
12. Quickly place your pieces into the hot oil (please do not crowd the pieces…they need room for a
nice crisp and brown fry. ) Flip them when the bottom side is golden brown…continue frying till
golden brown top and bottom and then place on a cookie tin prepared with paper towels or clean
brown paper with no print on it so they can get the excess oil out…if they are fried quickly in the
hot oil it is really amazing how they do not retain a lot of oil : ) Now just repeat till everything is
fried up.
13. Now it is time to put the dish together and get it ready for the oven! Choose your favorite
casserole (I love using individual ones : ) Place a thin layer of your favorite tomato sauce on the
bottom and place a layer of eggplant on the top of it…
14. Now place another layer of tomato sauce on the top of the eggplant…
15. Take freshly grated mozzarella cheese and create a layer ontop of the sauced eggplant and then
sprinkle it with some great grated cheese (pecorino romano is my choice : )
16. Repeat…
17. Repeat… you should end with a layer of mozzarella on the top with a sprinkle of grated cheese.
18. Now cover the casserole or casseroles with aluminum foil loosely…don’t let the foil touch the
cheese so create a little tent there.
19. Place in a pre-heated over of 375 degrees and bake for approximately 30 minutes covered…
20. After 30 minutes remove the in foil and let bake for an additional 10-15 minutes so your cheese
lightly browns and is bubbling! It is ready to serve!
(serving suggestions…serve with a delicious salad filled with fresh seasonal veggies with a balsamic vinegar dressing…crisp toasted Italian Bread…a delicious red wine…that equals…YUM!)
Here are some REALLY Yummy recipes for the wonderful EGGPLANT!!!!!
Grilled Eggplant, Caponata from The Cottage Market, Korean Grilled stuffed eggplants, Crostinni,
Roasted Ratatouille, Eggplant and Pasta Timbale Try the incredible edible EGGPLANT TODAY!
Hugs
to all and I will see you tomorrow!
mmmm Looks great. Thank you so much for sharing your reciepe.
Hugs
donna
Everything looks yummmmmy…I do want to make this. I am off to check out the magazine …pure joy! Love your blog and thank you for your sweet sweet comments. xoxoox
Okay I have to say I am not a Big Egg Plant Fan….But maybe that has something to do with me NOT ever having it…I was a picky eater in my Younger Years…:) And Egg Plant just so happened to be one of those things…. But I tell you what if I was over for Lunch I wouldn’t hesitate to Eat because that Looks Absolutely Delicious… I might just have to make it to NJ… 🙂
Oooooh love love love this. Delicious looking!
Jenny
http://www.simcoestreet.blogspot.com
Oh yummy! I have eggplant coming out of the garden now! I’m totally using this recipe! This post is so informative and I think my subscribers would really enjoy reading this. I would love for you to come share it at Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways on Frugally Sustainable this Wednesday. And, I really hope that you will put Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways on your list of carnivals to visit and link to each Wednesday!
Warmly,
Andrea @ Frugally Sustainable
Here’s the link: http://www.frugallysustainable.com
ooo i love this! i needed eggplant recipes and these look great! i have some in the fridge now so it works out perfect!
Thank you so very much for linking up to Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways:) I’m so happy to “meet” you! I am totally loving your blog and your posts! I really hope you make Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways a part of your Wednesdays! And keep the great posts comin’
Very sincerely,
Andrea @ Frugally Sustainable
I love eggplant, I have never cooked eggplant. I would love it if you shared your recipe there to my new blog hop:
http://juliejewels.blogspot.com/2011/12/showw-off-your-stuff-2.html
Looks so yummy.
New follower via Show Off Your Stuff #2
http://www.sjb-myphotopage.com/
That looks and sounds delicious!!! Found you at Flamingo Toes. Now following! ~ Barbara