Baked Eggplant Parmesan

Last night, while the Fall Off the Bone Ribs were cooking, I worked on some Baked Eggplant Parmesan.

Baked Eggplant Parmesan
Ingredients:

• 3 eggplant sliced 1/4" thick (you'll need 12 slices)
• salt
• 3 eggs beaten
• 1 (8 ounce) box Italian seasoned panko bread crumbs
• 1 (26 ounce) jar marinara sauce
• 1 (16 ounce) package fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced thinly
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil or 1 teaspoon dried basil
• cooking spray

Directions:

1. Sprinkle some salt on both sides of each slice of eggplant. Layer the slices in a colander and place the colander in your sink. Place a heavy dish or pan over the top to press them down. Allow to sweat for 30 to 45 minutes. Rinse well with cold water to remove salt and blot dry with paper towels.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a rimmed baking sheet generously with cooking spray. Dip eggplant slices in egg, then in bread crumbs, pressing crumbs down with fingers if needed to cover evenly. Place in a single layer on oiled baking sheet and lightly spray tops of breaded eggplant with cooking spray. Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes then carefully flip each slice and cook an additional 5 to 10 minutes, until nicely browned. Remove from oven and reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees.
3. In a 9x13 inch baking dish spread just enough marinara to cover bottom of dish. Place a layer of eggplant slices in the sauce. Cover each slice with a spoon full of marinara, a slice or two of mozzarella, and then sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Repeat with one more layer. Pour any leftover marinara and around edges of eggplant slices and top with any cheese that is left. Sprinkle basil on top.
4. Bake, uncovered, in preheated oven for 30 minutes

Well, except for my really old breadcrumbs, which were the only things that kept the dish from tasting wonderful, this recipe worked out really well. I only needed one eggplant, which, when sliced 1/4" thick, gave me stacks of eggplant 4-5 slices high, I used 4 cups of shredded mozzarella (I love cheese) and probably only half of the required parmesan. This was easy to fix and very tasty.