Eggplant Parmesan with Roasted Red Peppers
You may notice that there is new cheese melted on top of old cheese, and grated cheese on top of that. My response, these are leftovers so of course there needs to be new melty cheese on it, and I’m a goddamn grown up so I can do what I want. *
Here’s the basic recipe:
drain, dust, dip, panko, fry, bake, melt, sprinkle.
That may be fairly reductive, but its that style of mnemonic thinking that gets me through cooking something new** To be more helpful, here’s an actual recipe for the non-food autistic.
1.) DRAIN: cut eggplant into discs or strips, about 1/3 of an inch wide. Place in colander, salt liberally and let drain for about 30 minutes.
2.) DUST: dust in flour
3.) DIP: dip in whisked eggs (two got me through, but three would have been nice to have on hand)
4.) PANKO: roll in panko. or panko/breadcrumb mixture. I went with the latter, magnificent.
5.) FRY: brown a few at a time in a liberally oiled saute pan, use tongs to flip, brown each side
6.) BAKE: once all are browned, put on baking sheet. Bake at 350 for however long it takes you to heat up arrabiatta sauce, pour glass of wine and perhaps start to wash a few dishes. Like 15 minutes?
7.) MELT: thinly slice fresh mozzarella, arrange on top of eggplant, cook until melted
8.) SPRINKLE: serve on top of a bed of baby spinach and rough cut basil dressed in balsamic. sprinkle with fresh grated parmigiano reggiano. Arrabiatta SOS (sauce on side)
If you’d like a bit more protein, garlicky lemon shrimp go oh-so nicely.
This gentleman was pretty excited about the events transpiring
ROASTED RED PEPPERS
I’m sure this is breaking some sort of home ec rule, but this is how I roast peppers. Straight on top of the burner, like so:
Turn semi-frequently. You’ll hear them pop and see the skin start to separate. Once they are blackened throw them into a small paper bag (like oh, say, a wine bag) and let them sweat a bit. The skin should come off easily.
*following the 80/20 rule of healthy living this is fine. I choose not to examine the percentages too closely.
** I know, right? How have I never made eggplant parmesan? Well. I’ve never made lasagna either. I’m figuring out how to tailor them in my own time.
