Eggplant Parmesan

I don’t do pot lucks very often… I’m not a big fan. There rarely is anything really “good” to eat. There is the usual pot luck dishes… mac & cheese, kugel, potato salad, jello mold. Not high on my culinary lists. So when I had to made a main course dish for a pot luck, I kind of cringed. What to make? Honestly, I thought why does a pot luck dish have to be typical? It doesn’t. I thought about what I would want to eat… I thought about what I would serve my family on any other night for dinner. Then I came up with eggplant parmesan.

The only difference between this recipe and my usual recipe is that instead of using regular, large eggplants, I used the smaller Italian eggplants. This might take a little time to make, but it’s oh so worth it.

Ingredients:

2 large eggplants or approximately 10 small Italian eggplants
1 cup of ricotta cheese
1 jar of tomato sauce
2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup of freshly grated parmesan cheese
vegetable oil
3 eggs
1 container or bag of bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Heat oil in a large skillet. Use enough oil to measure at least 1/2 inch deep. Cut up the eggplant into small 1/4″ rounds.

Skillet with oil.

Italian Eggplant

Cut up eggplant.

Prepare the eggs by mixing them in a bowl and adding a little bit of water.

Prepare the eggs.

Egg mixture.

Pour the bread crumbs onto a large plate.

Bread crumbs.

Dip the eggplant slices into the egg mixture and then into the breadcrumbs. Place into the heated skilled.

Eggplant dipped in egg and bread crumbs.

Sizzling eggplant.

Turn over when the bottoms are browned and brown on the other side as well.

Sizzling eggplant.

Once the eggplant is done, you’ll want to start putting together your dish. I usually use a 9 x 12 glass Pyrex dish but I’m using a foil pan this time because this is going to be a pot luck dish and I don’t want to have to wash my dish and schlep it home.