Eggplant Parmigiana

YUM. I'm too drained from reading student papers to say anything of substance, but I wanted to share my new eggplant parmigiana dish, courtesy of Gourmet Magazine. I should preface this by admitting that I usually find eggplant disgusting. But it was a good price at the market, and I believe in trying new things (or old things different ways). And what a lucky thing that I do, because this parmigiana is savory, salty, spicy, rich and healthy all at the same time. I served it with a lemony Caesar salad (minus croutons).

Peel and slice two large eggplants (or however many small or large eggplants you desire) into 1/4 in. slices and brush both sides with olive oil. Place on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet and roast for 20 minutes at 450 degrees F (flipping once). Set aside.

In the meantime, get a lovely tomato sauce bubbling. (I actually did this first, but I like to let sauces simmer for a long time.) Make it a tad bit on the salty side to compensate for the blandness of the plain roast eggplant and mozzarella. Start by adding a healthy amount of red pepper flakes and 2 cloves of minced garlic to a nice slug of olive oil. (One of the secrets to an amazing, rich Italian tomato sauce is a liberal slug of olive oil.) After a minute or so, add a 28 oz can of diced organic tomatoes and let it simmer until it thickens. Then add 1/4 C Parmesan cheese. Set aside.

Make individual parmigianas by layering: a slice of roasted eggplant, spread with some sauce, topped by fresh basil and a slice of mozzarella, followed by another slice of eggplant. Etcetera. Repeat until you have a well-sized eggplant tower (I found three slices sufficient). Keep the cheese layer moderate, to prevent greasy pools of dairy from mucking up the glorious acidity of the tomatoes and the gentle sweetness of the eggplant.

Pop the parmigianas back into the oven until the cheese melts and starts to brown in places.

Enjoy!

postscript: I find the current Michigan-Florida delegate debacle horrifying. Why don't we just save Bush the trouble and make the democratic process entirely obsolete?