Julia's Eggplant Parm

My wonderful, talented sister Julia is currently traveling around Europe, and just completed a three day stint in Roma. As I am wildly jealous and hoping to live vicariously through her, I wanted to make one of the Italian dishes she taught me to make properly: Eggplant Parmesan.

Before she took off across the ocean blue, I helped her with a catering event in which we massively overestimated portions, and therefore I was able to gorge on Eggplant Parm for days after. It also meant I had to repeat this recipe about a hundred times. I'm still not sure my Parm is up to snuff with Julia's but OMG I love trying!

The one secret I remember is that you should slice the eggplant real thin, which is easier with the correct equipment (Oh loooord won't you buy me a steel mandolin). Then salt and layer the slices with paper towels to let them dry. You can even change out the paper towels once or twice if they get real sopping. The more water you draw out, the better the texture of the Parm. yesssss. texturrrre.

Eggplant Parm(esan)

2 big eggplants

Mozzarella

Shredded Parmesan

Tomato sauce

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp died oregano

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1-2 tsp salt

1-2 tsp pepper

4 eggs

1/2 cup italian breadcrumbs

1/2 cup panko

container of ricotta

parsley

olive oil

Oven 375 deg

So first up, prep those eggplants like I say above, let all that water leech out until they are super tender and darker in color. Pat them dry and set up your frying station. Get three bowls and fill: one with flour and the spices, the second with eggs all whisked together, the third with the panko and breadcrumb mix. Put a skillet on the stove and add some olive oil. Dunk the slices of eggplant one at a time in the flour, then eggs, then crumbs...also known as the delish-trinity. Fry them up till both sides become a golden brown and then transfer to a plate to make room for more frying.

The ricotta mixture is just the finely minced parsley, ricotta and an egg with some salt and peppa, mixed up with a fork.

Once you start popping those slices out, you can layer them with mozzarella, ricotta mixture and sauce in a casserole dish. I was super lazy about the sauce and just did a simple tomato with some garlic, olive oil and salt and pepper, but make yerself a fancy sauce if you so desire.

Layer it till you've got all that eggplant in, and add the parmesan cheese to the top so it will be nice and crunchy. Put in the oven, bake for 30-40 minutes. Yummers!