Monday, November 12, 2007

Eggplant Parm

In celebration of finishing the Sopranos series, we had some tasty eggplant parmigiana. It was yummy! It wasn't your typical greasy, saucy, cheesy version (wait, that sounds good), but a lighter version and earned a "make again" seal of approval. Check it out!

Eggplant Parmigiana

Makes 4 lunch or 2 large dinner servings

1 eggplant (24 ounces), cut into 3/16-inch slices (16 pieces)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 ounces diced Asiago
¼ cup bread crumbs
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil (divided)
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 ½ cups tomato sauce (about)
8 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into 16 slices
16 basil leaves
2 tablespoons capers
¼ cup green olives, pitted and cut into 1/8-inch slices

Season eggplant with salt and pepper, place on a rack and let sit 30 minutes; pat dry with
towels. Meanwhile, mix Asiago with bread crumbs, 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, salt and pepper to taste, and the parsley. Set aside.

Set a grill pan over medium-high heat. Brush eggplant with 3 tablespoons of remaining olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and place on grill 3 minutes. Turn over and grill 2 minutes. Remove and let slices cool long enough to handle.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Place 8 heaping tablespoons of sauce on bottom of 13-by-9-inch baking dish, spacing evenly. Place one slice of eggplant over each tablespoon of sauce. Place one slice mozzarella over each eggplant slice and season the layer with salt and pepper. Add a basil leaf to each, another tablespoon of sauce, another eggplant slice, another slice of mozzarella, another basil leaf and a final tablespoon of sauce.

Sprinkle diced cheese-crumb mixture over top of each eggplant stack, sprinkle remaining 3 tablespoons olive oil over all and place in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Or, if dish is made ahead and cold from the refrigerator, place in a 375-degree oven for 25 minutes until hot and bubbly.

Serve each portion sprinkled with capers and olives.

Note: Eggplant and other ingredients in this recipe also can be triple-stacked instead of double-stacked.

** I didn't use the capers or olives. I made a nice side of pasta and tasty salad.

2 comments:

Whitney said...

So, what did you think about the last episode? I miss that show.

dria said...

We're sad it's over. We actually weren't sure we were watching the last episode. We both knew what was going to happen, but there it was and BAM! Black out, it was over. A little disappointing, but in a way, comforting that everything came to an end and all was resolved.