An Eggsellent Dinner

Photo from FreeClipArtPictures.com

One of the things I enjoy about getting a CSA box is that they often throw in things I wouldn't otherwise think to buy for myself.  This week, we got an Eggplant!  I can't say I've ever really learned to appreciate eggplant.  My mother seemed to enjoy them, but I don't recall her making it very often.  I know she had a love of Eggplant Manicotti, and I think she made that once that I recall.  I don't remember being all that impressed, but it was a long time ago.  I don't recall having tried it on my own since.

But with a beautifully purple fruit in my possession, I couldn't help but see what I could do.  I wasn't really thinking Manicotti, but Eggplant Parmigiana sounded like a good choice.

I dug through various recipes, and they mostly said the same things.  Bread the eggplant, fry it, layer it between homemade tomato sauce, slices of mozzarella, and basil leaves  up in 2-3 layers in a baking dish, and bake until it is melty and toasty.  

I started with a 28 oz can of peeled whole tomatoes which I emptied into a sauce pan on medium heat.  To that, I added half an onion (cut in half.. so two quarters) left intact, 5 tablespoons of butter, a shake or two of salt, one clove of garlic, minced, and about half a cup of red wine.

I left that to simmer down, occasionally smashing the tomato pulp against the pan with a spoon.

I sliced the eggplant into 1/4-1/2 inch slices and dipped them in flour, then egg, then seasoned bread-crumbs.  Then in about 1/2 inch of olive oil, I fried them until golden.

Back to the sauce, once it had cooked down, and the onion was translucent, I removed the onion, and used a potato masher to break down the remaining pulp.  I suppose I could have broke out the immersion blender, but I wanted to have it a little chunky.  I let it simmer a while longer until it thickened.

Once the sauce was ready, I broke out the small baking dish (if you use 2-3 eggplants, go for the 13x9 dish), and starting with the sauce, I layered it with the eggplant, slices of mozzarella, fresh basil leaves, and parmigiana reggianno, and managed 3 layers with about 12 slices from the one eggplant.  Sauce on top, more parm, and into the oven for about 20-25 minutes at 350 until it starts to brown and is all melty.

Not only is it vegetarian, but with this preparation, even a meat lover like me won't miss it.  I'm going to have to start hunting down my own eggplant now. :-)