During these cold, sometimes bleak days in the Pacific Northwest, my mind goes to comfort food. One of my favorites is Eggplant Parmesan.
Many years ago, I worked in a large city on the East Coast with Andrea, a woman of Sicilian ancestry, who taught me how to make excellent Eggplant Parmesan (if I do say so myself!). Here is my friend Andrea's recipe. I think it is a perfect Valentine's Day entree.
One large sweet onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped or pressed
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 medium eggplants, peeled and sliced horizontally into 1/4”-thick rounds
1 to 2 bottles of commercially prepared red pasta sauce ( I prefer Botticelli’s Primavera sauce. Any Botticelli sauce is very good)
1-1/2 cups of breadcrumbs
1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning
3/4 cup of grated Parmesan cheese (the granulated type in a shaker bottle)
One package of shredded mozzarella cheese
One package of shredded Parmesan cheese or Italian blend cheese
6 eggs, whisked together well
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
First, heat the large quantity of vegetable oil on high heat in a large shallow frying pan hot until it is hot. And preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Place the whisked eggs in a pie plate. In another pie plate, mix the breadcrumbs, Italian seasoning and grated Parmesan cheese to combine well.
Dip each slice of eggplant first in the egg, and then in the breadcrumb mixture until well coated.
Frying: Place the coated eggplant slices in the frying pan with hot oil. Turn when golden brown on one side. Remove when both sides are brown and the eggplant goes from firm to softer in texture. Drain on paper towels. Continue until all the eggplant slices are fried.
Onion mixture: In a separate skillet, place 2 tablespoons of oil, diced onion and garlic. Sauté on medium heat until the onions are transparent. Remove from heat.
Place a second layer of eggplant in the dish. Add another layer of the onion mixture or cheese, this time shredded Parmesan. Add more red sauce.
Place a third layer of eggplant in the baking dish. Finish the dish off with one more layer of red sauce, and then top with the remainder of the cheese.
Bake in your preheated 350-degree oven for 30-40 minutes until the top layer of cheese begins to turn golden brown, as shown in the photograph.
Enjoy!
Shannon Beigert is a chef and baker who loves entertaining guests at her Olympia home. If you want to let her know that this recipe worked well for you, send her a note at shannon@theJOLTnews.com
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