I hated the taste of eggplant when I was a child, and dreaded when my mom said we were having eggplant parmesan for dinner. But I didn’t mind helping her make it. Dipping the eggplant circles she had cut into the egg and the bread crumbs was fun. When it came to eating it, I took a few bites and slugged down a lot of Fruit Punch to obliterate the taste of the stuff. Then, I cut up the rest, pretending to eat it before hiding it under my potato or spreading it around my plate.
My brother felt the same way. No. Scratch that. He was worse, refusing the eggplant altogether. In fact, my mom once wrote a check for $5,000 just so he would eat it. I’m very serious. And it seriously worked. My brother wolfed down the eggplant, and excitedly grabbed the check from my mom. He was reveling in his new riches, when my mom pointed out that the check was paid to the order of “Mickey Mouse.” Then, he got mad. Seeing the effect the food had on her otherwise well-behaved children, my mom decided to stop making eggplant.
Fast forward about 18 years to when I was living in Boston, and roomed with a woman who co-owns an Italian restaurant in the North End, otherwise known as the city’s Italian section. She was always urging me to try new things on the menu and was always asking for honest feedback. One night she wanted me to try the eggplant parmesan and tell her how it was. I practically shuttered as I explained my distaste for eggplant and emphasized to my friend that it was nothing personal. She was insistent and comped my meal. And much to my surprise, it was delicious. Yes, I know that tastes change, but I was truly stunned that my taste buds had changed that much.
After enjoying prepared eggplant parmesan from the grocery store a few times, I decided to make it myself. I experimented a little, but copied some steps from when I was young. It came out so well that I wanted to post the recipe here.
What you’ll need:
1 eggplant
2 eggs
Italian bread crumbs
1 jar tomato sauce
Sliced mozzarella cheese
Canola oil
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F.
Pour bread crumbs in a plate.
Crack two eggs in another plate and whip the mixture with a fork.
Cut up the eggplant julienne style.
Dip a piece of eggplant in egg, then cover on both sides with bread crumbs.
Repeat this two-step process until all slices of eggplant are covered with egg and bread crumbs.
Pour a little bit of oil into a frying pan.
Once pan is hot, put two slices of eggplant in at a time.
When the bottoms are crusted, turn over and do the same with the other side.
Put finished slices on paper towels.
Continue this process until all slices are crusted over.
Place a slice of eggplant in baking pan and cover the top of it with a layer of tomato sauce. Then, cover tomato sauce with another slice. Pour another layer of tomato sauce on top, spreading the sauce over the surface with a spoon if needed. Cover with about one-and-a-half slices of mozzarella cheese.
Repeat the process above for all eggplant slices. (Tip: Match up slices according to their lengths.)
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| It looks like this because I used a roll of mozzarella cheese (instead of mozzarella slices) and broke the roll up into smaller pieces. I tried it again with slices, which taste great and are easier to work with. |
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes.
Take out and serve.
For big parties or plenty of leftovers, use two eggplants.
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