Eggplant Parmesan

The first thing I do is cover the bottom of my casserole dish (9 x 9 inch) with some pasta sauce. Then set the dish next to the stove on the counter. It’s a convenient spot for it, because as you’re frying your eggplant, you will be placing/layering them in the dish straight away.

Put your shredded mozzarella cheese in a bowl and mix in half of the herbes de Provence. Toss it around so the herbs cover the cheese.

Get your breading station ready! I like to be hasty and productive when breading and frying, so I always create a little assembly line. Put the flour in one bowl. Put the beaten eggs in another. Put the breadcrumbs, 1 tablespoon of Parmesan and remaining half of the herbes de Provence in another. Again, the grated Parmesan and herbs are optional, but they really jazz up your breading.

Now, slice that eggplant. The perfect width, in my humble opinion, is about half an inch thick rounds.

Once you’ve got your eggplant sliced, your breading station stationed and your casserole dish a-waitin’ (haha—are we rhyming now?) heat up 2 tablespoons of canola oil in a frying pan. You may need to add more as you go. Heat it on medium heat and be careful. Don’t smoke out your house. If you heat your oil too hot, the moment you toss your eggplant into it, things are going to crackle, smoke is going to hit you in the face, and you’ll stink up your entire place. (Why am I Mother Goose tonight?)

Preheat your oven to 350 F.

While your oil is heating, start breading your eggplant. Toss each slice in flour, then in egg, then in breadcrumbs. Place slices in a single layer in the hot pan, 3-4 at a time, and fry them until they are golden brown on each side. When they are done, place them in your dish (this is why you want it nearby). Repeat frying the additional eggplant slices and putting them into your dish. When you have one full layer down, sprinkle some shredded mozzarella on top. Then, drizzle some sauce on top to cover.

Fry up more eggplant slices, layer them in your casserole dish, and then layer with shredded mozzarella, sauce, etc. Basically your layers are sauce, eggplant, cheese, sauce, eggplant, cheese, sauce. Got it? It’s basically like a lasagna!

The very last layer on top should be shredded mozzarella. Always finish with cheese on top, no matter what. I also sprinkled some grated Parmesan on top for good measure. In other words, I’m a fanatic of cheese and can’t ever get enough.

Cover with tinfoil and bake it in the oven at 350 F for about 40 minutes. Remove dish from oven and remove the foil. Lower the oven temp to 300 F and put the dish back in the oven. Bake for an additional 20 minutes. You’ll get a nice browning on your cheese top.

Serve over rice or pasta if you really need to (not at my house). Maybe the next day throw one on a bun!