I also found these beautiful flowers at the farmer's market. Isn't it fun to have fresh flowers in the house? It instantly transforms a room I think. It was part of my inspiration to make a nice dinner.
2 1/2 pounds of eggplants, cut into 1/3 inch rounds
2 28-32 oz. can of whole Italian tomatoes (I used diced)
1 1/2 cups of olive oil
2 large garlic cloves finely chopped
20 fresh basil leaves, torn in half
ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. of red pepper flakes
1 cup of all purpose flour
5 large eggs
3 1/2 cups of bread crumbs
1 cup of grated parmesan
1 pound of fresh mozzerella, thinly sliced.
Cut the eggplant and then place in a colander over a bowl. Salt the eggplant slices with about 2 tsp. of salt and toss the eggplants. Let drain into the bowl for about 30 minutes.
Meanwhile coarsely puree the tomatoes in it's juice in batches in the blender (you want them to have some texture)
Heat 3 T. olive oil in a 5 quart heavy pot over medium heat. Add the garlic- stirring about 30 seconds. Then add the tomato puree, basil, 1/2 tsp. salt, 1/2 tsp. of black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Bring to a simmer stirring occasionally for about 25-30 minutes.
Stir together flour, 1/4 tsp. salt, 1/4 tsp. of black pepper in a bowl.
In a separate bowl, lightly beat eggs.
And in a third bowl stir together the bread crumbs and parmesan.
Working the pieces one at a time: dredge the eggplant in the flour -shaking off the excess. Then dip in the egg to coat, let the excess drip off then dredge in the breadcrumb mixture. Transfer to wax paper arranging the slices in one layer.
Heat the remaining oil in a deep 12 inch skillet over medium heat (making sure it's not too hot or it will smoke)
Fry the eggplant 4 pieces at a time. approximately 2 minutes on each side only turning once so that you don't knock off the breadcrumb coating. Transfer to paper towels to drain.
Spread about a cup of tomato sauce in the bottom of a baking dish in a single layer. Cover with remaining sauce and then a slice of mozzarella. Bake uncovered until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling. About 35-40 minutes in a 350 degree oven. Remove and sprinkle with some more parmesan.
Sauce can be made up to one day ahead of time and refrigerated.
What I learned:
I cut my eggplant slices to thick. And it had a funky texture. Next time I will do them thinner. Like the cookbook said to do.
I thought the colander and bowl thing was strange but I did it anyway. Turns out they tell you to do that because it will start to drip! Glad I followed that direction.
I thought I knew better and could use my immersion blender in the pot to cut up the tomatoes. haha! I made a mess. Next time I will do it their way!
I decided to also make some chicken since some of the kid's friends are picky eaters. And it turned out that I didn't have to make any more of the dredging mixtures. It was enough for both the eggplant and the chicken.
The eggplant will start to brown some when salt is applied and this will drip into bowl.
I used chicken fillets because it's what I had on hand
I inadvertently bought the fresh mozzarella that said "unwrap and roll" and I didn't know what it meant, but turns out it is really handy! It rolls out in a thin sheet and you can just cut into to the size you need.
Now watch... our Walmart will probably never carry it again. That's how it goes here in Grove.
There's the eggplant in the braising dish and the chicken is in the pyrex pan.
An Italian dish deserves a nice Italian wine. This was yummy!
The egg plant was better than you think.
ReplyDeleteBecause it was too thick it came out with a mushroomy texture.. I would rather it not be that way. I'm not giving up. I'll do better next time.
ReplyDelete