New Recipe - Eggplant Parmesan

I tried a new recipe last night...eggplant parmesan. I've never done anything with eggplant before, but the dinner came out great! I even had to take a picture of it. If you'd like to try something new, give it a shot. It took about 3-4 hours from start to finish. I made up some of the recipe myself, but I'll give it to you and wish you the best if you decide to try it yourself...

This recipe serves 2-4 people.

INGREDIENTS:

1 eggplant (medium size)

Bread Crumbs

Flour

Salt
Basil, Oregano, Parsley

2 Eggs

Chicken (optional)

Noodles (optional)

Parmesan Cheese

Mozzarella Cheese

DIRECTIONS:

- Skin eggplant completely. Cut long-ways into 1/3 inch slices.

- Get a bowl and make a mix of flour and salt (about 4/5 flour and 1/5 salt)

- Dip and press the sliced eggplants into the powdery mix. This will extract the bitter juices from the eggplant. Lay out eggplant on a papertowel to begin the draining process. The eggplant should go through this process for 1-2 hours. Keep adding flour to eggplant as the juice soaks into the flour already on the slices.

- After 1-2 hours, rinse eggplant under warm water to remove flour and salt.

- Get a bowl and make a mix of flour, bread crumbs, and ground herbs listed above (no salt)

- Get a bowl and mix two eggs (or three if necessary)

- Dip eggplant into breading FIRST, then into egg, then back into the breading. Place into frying pan with vegetable oil for a quick simmer. I only fried mine until they began to crisp and turns a very light tan (not too brown)

- Cook 1/2 lb of chicken in a frying pan, cooking all the way through, but not over cooking.

- boil and prepare 1 cup of noodles (penne preferably)

When the ingredients are done, place a layer of eggplant at the bottom of the pan evenly. On top, spread tomato sauce (I used Classico 4-cheese). Add shredded chicked to your desire. Put grated parmesan cheese and shredded mozzarella cheese on top. Add another layer of eggplant. Again, add sauce, and more chicken if desired. I also added penne noodles here. Put parmesan and mozzarella cheese on top. Add last layer of eggplant. On top, add sauce, parmesian cheese and top it evenly and generously with mozzarella cheese.

Cook at 350 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Wha-laa! You're done!