Eggplant Parmesan

This was Jess's sandwich. I scooped my bread so I could fit it in my mouth.

It took many years away from New York (like 22 years) to suddenly realize that I missed a really good east coast eggplant parmesan, particularly in sandwich form. So I've made this a few times, and it's successfully fulfilled the craving.

I hate frying things, so I searched for instructions for a baked version and found this one from Gimme Some Oven. The only change I made is to omit the fresh basil (because I usually don't have it on hand) and also omit the Italian seasoning in the breadcrumbs. I like to keep the flavor on the eggplant simple, and pack my sauce with those flavors instead.

I usually pick up fresh bread to turn it into a sandwich, but we're in quarantine and Fred Meyer was out of the french bread that I tried to get in my last pickup order. So out came the flour and yeast, and I followed this recipe for french bread, and it's SO good and not terribly difficult or time-consuming. I want to say that I will never bother buying french bread again, but I'm sure that's not true.

The Recipe: (from Gimme Some Oven)

1 eggplant, sliced into 1/2 inch rounds

3/4 c panko breadcrumbs

1 tsp salt

1 egg

1 pint tomato sauce (I make it with tomato/onion/garlic/salt/sugar/basil/oregano)

1 c mozzarella cheese, grated

1/3 c parmesan cheese, grated

fresh basil for garnish

french bread if making it into a sandwich

Sprinkle the sliced eggplant generously with salt and let it sit in a colander for 30-60 minutes to drain some liquid. Then rinse the salt away.
Beat the egg in one bowl. Mix the breadcrumbs and salt in another. Dip the eggplant rounds in egg, then breadcrumbs. Place on baking sheet.
Spray the tops of the eggplant rounds with baking spray.
Bake at 425 for 20 minutes, flipping halfway through.
In a 9x13 casserole dish, layer sauce, then eggplant, then both cheeses. It's fine to make a double layer if you run out of room.
Bake for another 20 minutes.
Garnish with fresh basil if you have it!
Serve in a sandwich, over pasta, or just by itself

The Verdict:

Overall grade: B+

Overall reason: Time consuming and not the most healthy, but delicious.

Time to prepare: 90 minutes

Husband quote: I like it when it's a sandwich. (Implication: he does not like eggplant by itself.)

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