Eggplant Parm

Although the extra rainfall and cooler evening temperatures were a little tough on the garden, we're still holding it's own. In particular we've got tons of green beans, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, and carrots. The tomatoes took a big hit but I'm hoping they make a good recovery and bounce back for another round.

The one thing that's done and gone for this year is our eggplant. It was one of our experimental, first time crops and I'm pleased to say we ended up with 4 lovely deep purple beauties. It's a hot weather plant and has a longer growing period, so the dropping temperatures definitely had an effect on it's ongoing production. But, I'm certainly going cooking up what we do have....

Eggplant Parm

1 medium eggplant

Salt

flour

1 egg

bread crumbs

shredded cheese (I usually go for a blend)

tomato sauce

Cut eggplant into 1/4 slices.

Next is an important step, "sweat" the eggplant. This will keep your dish from getting soggy. Sprinkle with salt and place in colander for about 30 minutes until you start to notice little droplets of water forming. Then press the slices between paper towels to remove excess moisture.

Now onto the breading. This is the same process I use for any kind of parm dish. You'll need 3 medium bowls with flour, 1 egg (beaten) and bread crumbs. The amount needed will vary depending on how much eggplant you have. I use gluten free flour and gluten free tortilla crumbs but the traditional stuff works the same. I also add in some italian spices to the bread crumb mixture (oregano, basil, salt, etc). Next dip each slice of eggplant into each bowl until coating following the order: flour, egg, bread crumbs.

Then fry them up in a preheated skillet on medium heat using desired oil. I usually stick with vegetable oil because it doesn't splatter. 3-4 minutes per side until brown.

Transfer to lightly greased baking dish and cover with desired amount of tomato sauce and cheese. Bake at 425 for about 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and golden brown.