Directions: |
Directions:Make Sauce: Heat oil in NON-IRON pan and saute your garlic until just barely brown. Nothing ruins tomato sauce like burned garlic. Then pour tomatoes into the hot oil and stir. Simmer down for about 1 to 1 & 1/2 hours, until it is nice and thick and chunky - (NOT watery at all, for a nice slicing, non-soggy dish). Add some salt and pepper to taste, and maybe up to 1 teaspoon of sugar if the tomatoes are a bit tart. My favorite tomato sauce has no onions, but plenty of garlic. Getting a good original sizzle with the tomato seems to do something nice for both marinara and cooked salsa.
Slice eggplant 1/4 inch or less. Salt the slices on both sides and let sit. Once they are blistering with water, pat them dry with flour cloth or paper towel. The main problem I run into with fried eggplant is pieces that are still tough and weird textured. So what I do for each slice is to really squeeze and tenderize each piece with my fingertips, and then actually roll up and wring each one out until it is squeezes out some drops of water, and is nice and floppy and tender. Ready!
Beat 2 eggs into a shallow bowl, and put some bread crumbs (salt and season plain crumbs if you don't buy the seasoned ones) Dip eggplant slices first in the egg, then in the crumbs, pressing crumbs securely on with fingertips, and then set out on a sheet pan.
Heat some coconut oil (being of the self-indulgant persuasion, I also add a little butter as well to the mix) in a well seasoned cast iron. Fry each breaded eggplant slice for about 4-5 minutes on each side until nice and brown. Add more oil for each batch if needed.
Assemble:
spoon a few Tbsp of sauce at the bottom of the 9X13 pan, and then a layer of the eggplant. Follow with more sauce and mozzarella. With one large globe eggplant, I usually have enough to do just 2 layers of eggplant and I think it is perfect, but could keep layering like lasagna with eggplant, sauce, cheese, and then finish with a small amount of mozzarella and plenty of shredded parmasan.
Bake at 400 for about 20 minutes. Slice into squares and serve warm, a nice arugula salad on the side.
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