Eggplants. I love the look of them and the texture and flavor. In Chinese restaurants, I love the garlic, pork, and eggplant dish that I first had 20 years ago. (Hmmm… I should probably try to make that one day.) In the meantime, I satisfy my eggplant craving at home with eggplant Parmesan.

In the past, I’ve fried up a bunch of eggplant at one point, then frozen the slices so I could pull out what I wanted for a sandwich or a small eggplant Parmesan.

enough oil to come to about 1/2″ in your pan

1 eggplant, sliced, salted, rinsed, and dried

2 eggs, beaten slightly with 1 Tbs water

flour (3 Tbs for an average-sized eggplant) or bread crumbs

salt and pepper to taste

marina sauce

mozzarella, sliced thinly, cubed, or grated

grated Parmesan

Slice the eggplant in 1/4″ slices. Place a layer in a colander and sprinkle with salt. Place another layer and salt it. Repeat until the slices are all salted. Let sit for 30 minutes or so in your sink. Rinse off and dry.

When you’re ready to start cooking the eggplant, heat the oil over medium heat.

In a pie pan or other shallow dish, beat the eggs and water slightly.

In another pie pan or shallow dish, place the flour or bread crumbs and mix in some salt and pepper.

When the oil is hot, use a couple of forks to put each eggplant slice in the egg and then in the flour, and then in the oil. Cook a few minutes, until browned, then turn and brown the other side. Take the slices out of the pan and drain as much oil as possible, then lay on a layer of paper towels.

In a 9×9 pan, place a thin layer of tomato sauce, then a layer of eggplant. Lay or sprinkle some mozzarella and Parmesan, then repeat with another layer of eggplant, sauce, and cheese. Repeat as often as desired.

Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

Notes: I’ve done this before, skipping the egg and using just flour. I’ve also fried the eggplant with no flour, but I prefer it with some breading of some kind. I don’t really measure the cheese so have a hard time estimating what you might need.

Notes on freezing: If you want to freeze the fried eggplant slices, lay on a cookie sheet and “flash freeze.” When the slices are firm, place in a freezer bag or other freezer container.