recipe: eggplant parm

taken from: Allrecipes.com 

changes: 
- followed recommendations to "sweat" the eggplant before baking it (added in instructions below)
- used an Italian panko breadcrumb instead of regular breadcrumbs (which i will not use moving forward for breading anything)
- scaled down to 5 servings (from 10. recipe for 5 serving posted below)
- baked for 7 minutes per side at 425 F degrees (vs 5 minutes per @ 350. added in instructions below)

photo taken from allrecipes.com

ingredients list:
- 1 & 1/2 eggplants, peeled and thinly sliced (about 1/4 inch thickness)
- 1 egg, beaten
- 2 cups Italian seasoned bread crumbs
- 3 cups spaghetti sauce, divided 
- 1/2 (16 oz) package mozzarella cheese, shredded and divided
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
- 1/4 tsp dried basil

to make:
sweat the 1/4" slices by sprinkling with sea salt and letting them sit for 30 minutes (i let mine sit in colanders so both sides can breathe). rinse, and thoroughly pat dry with paper towels. 

preheat oven to 425 F degrees. 

dip eggplant slices in egg, then in bread crumbs. place in a single layer on a baking sheet. bake in preheated oven for 7 minutes per side.  

decrease oven temp to 350 F degrees.




in a 9x13" baking sheet, spread sauce to cover the bottom. place a layer of the breaded eggplant slices in the sauce. sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses. repeat with remaining ingredients, ending with cheeses. sprinkle basil on top.

bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until golden brown.

result: 
i used panko bread crumbs, and had a hard time getting them to stick to the eggplant. by the time i was mid-way through dipping, it just got moist and clumpy and wasn't coating the eggplant very well at all. only using regular b-crumbs for similar dishes moving forward. that said, the flavor of this recipe was really good, and came together nicely (especially when made with the NYT Cooking marinara sauce). would make again with that edit.