My brother normally snubs anything with eggplant in it — or anything outside of his meat-and-potatoes realm — but even he likes this dish. As you can tell by the photos, we cooked enough to feed an entire floor of a dorm hall, but you can easily half this recipe and serve it at your next potluck.
Utensils needed: oven, frying pan, vegetable peeler, knife, cutting board, two small bowls, 9″x13″ baking dish, aluminum foil, tongs, fork (or whisk, if you have one, but a fork works just as well), paper towels, plate
Ingredients:
1-2 large eggplants
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup milk
1 small container of Italian seasoned bread crumbs (found on seasoning aisle)
2 jars of spaghetti sauce
4 cups mozzarella cheese
1 bottle of canola oil
Time commitment: 45 minutes to an hour to prepare, 30 minutes to bake
Steps:
1. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the eggplant’s skin. You can leave it on, but a lot of the eggplant-averse dislike the somewhat-bitter taste it can have. Next, slice the eggplant into quarter-inch thick pieces.
2. Pour enough oil into the frying pan so that it coats the bottom of the pan. Then turn on the burner to medium. You’ll see a slight ripple on the top of the oil when it’s ready to fry. On a nearby table, place a plate with about three layers of paper towels. This will be used to absorb some of the oil from the finished eggplant. Also preheat the oven at 350 degrees.
3. Now make an egg wash by combining two eggs and milk. Use a fork — or a whisk if you have one — to break up the egg and mix it all together. Dip each eggplant slice into the egg wash and then into the breadcrumbs.
4. When the eggplant is golden brown on both sides, remove it from the oil and let it drain on the paper towel-covered plate until you’re ready to assemble the casserole.
5. Now add a small amount of spaghetti sauce to cover the bottom of the 9″x13″ pan. Then layer the fried eggplant, mozzarella cheese and more sauce. Keep layering until the pan is about 2/3 of the way full. Top it off with a light layer of spaghetti sauce and a sprinkling of cheese.
6. Cover the casserole with foil and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. (Oh, and to clear up the “Should I apply foil shiny side up or down?” debate, the folks at Reynolds Wrap says it doesn’t matter, unless you’re using the nonstick foil, which should be shiny side up so that the dull side, which is coated with the nonstick solution — faces the food.)
You can also prepare this dish the night before a big party (or whenever you want to eat it), or make a couple smaller batches at once and freeze them for a month (so you can just pop ’em out of the freezer and have a preprepared meal ready to go). Just get up until the part when you have to bake the layered eggplant and store it in your fridge or freezer instead. If it’s frozen, put it in the refrigerator overnight to let it thaw and bake it at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
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