EGGPLANT PARMIGIANA

Eggplant or Melanzane fried and baked with a marvelous tomato sauce served on crispy Italian bread is a recipe that almost everyone can enjoy. Frying your eggplant to a tender, crisp, golden texture, baking, and then topping with dry-aged mozzarella is a dish you will want to repeat over and again.

Ingredients
3 medium size eggplants
3 cups of light olive oil or vegetable oil
2 cups of flour
3 cups of unseasoned breadcrumbs (season with dry
   parsley and  dry basil flakes)
1 tsp. dry basil flakes
1 tsp. dry parsley flakes
14 eggs
1 1/4 cup pecorino Romano
   cheese-(black pepper)
2 tbl. imported oregano
1/2 lb. dry mozzarella
fresh basil
1/4 tsp. black pepper
Marinara sauce (recipe follows)

Begin by washing, peeling and cutting eggplant in a vertical form, 1/4 inch thick

Beat your eggs into a bowl with cheese adding a sprinkle of black pepper. Dip each slice, first into the flour shaking off excess flour, now into the egg batter. Lightly coat eggplant with seasoned breadcrumbs and let stand for 10 minutes. (this will allow the breadcrumbs to absorb some of the egg batter.)

Prepare a frying pan with 3 cups of vegetable oil and heat until oil is very hot but not burning. Place your battered eggplant and fry on each side for approximately 3 minutes to a
golden color. Place your fried eggplant on top of paper towel to absorb all excess oil.

ELEANORA'S MARINARA SAUCE

3 tbl. of extra-virgin oil
1 large onion - finely diced
2 cloves of garlic (minced)
2 jars of pure plum tomatoes
   (or 3 cans of plum tomatoes
   (use blender to smooth)
1 jar of puree tomato
   (or 1/2 can tomato paste
   for thickness)
1 tsp. salt
5 basil leaves (chopped)

Prepare your marinara sauce for eggplant into a saucepan. Add 2 tbl. spoon virgin olive oil, garlic, chopped onion-very fine, and saute until onions are translucent. Now add tomatoes, salt and cook for 20 minutes. Remove from heat.

Place some sauce (1 cup) into a baking pan and begin to layer the eggplant adding a sprinkle of oregano and 1 tsp. pecorino romano cheese and small amount (1/3 cup) of shredded mozzarella - begin again layering eggplant, sauce (1 1/4 cup) and oregano and grated cheese and shredded mozzarella. Now cover with foil and bake at preheated oven 350 degrees for approximately 30 minutes.

You can now remove from oven, add the mozzarella topping and bake for additional 8-10 minutes until cheese has melted. Let it stand for approximately 15-20 minutes to cool and its ready to serve.

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