Eggplant parmigiana is one of my favorite things to eat. And, if you know me well, you know I make/eat a lot of different things. So, when I say I LOVE eggplant parmigiana, it means something.
On a large baking sheet, lay out paper towel and place eggplant pieces on top. Sprinkle with salt. Lay another layer of paper towel on top and continue placing eggplant down with salt. Once all the eggplant is layed out, cover with another baking sheet and place something very heavy on top, like a cast iron skillet.
Allow eggplant to ‘sweat’ for an hour. Remove the eggplant from the paper towels, the towels should be very wet.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Drizzle olive oil on the baking sheet and lay the eggplant on top. Sprinkle flour on the each piece and massage into the top of the eggplant.
Bake eggplant for ten minutes, just until you can no longer see the flour and eggplant has softened. Do not allow the eggplant to brown.
In a large cast iron skillet, heat ½ cup of olive oil until very hot. Dip each eggplant slice in the egg/cheese mixture and place in the hot oil. Turn after 2 minutes, when eggplanthas begun to brown. Cook for another two minutes and transfer to a paper towel lined dish to drain.
In a 9x13 baking dish, lay ½ cup of sauce and spread thin. Lay the eggplant on top in a single layer. Drizzle another ½ cup of sauce on top and again, spread thin. Sprinkle some parmigiano cheese and continue with more eggplant until all your eggplant and sauce is gone.
Bake, covered with aluminum foil for 1 hour. Remove foil and sprinkle mozzarella on topand increase oven temperature to 400 degrees. Bake another 10 minutes until the top is as my brother-in-law Chris would say, “Golden, Brown, Delicious!”
