40 Minutes (or less) Eggplant Parmigiana

A few months ago I visited Buca di Beppo and was reminded of how much I enjoyed a good Eggplant Parmigiana. I've always been slightly intimidated by the big purple vegetable and have never tried to make the dish myself. After some encouraging words and suggestions from a Sicilian friend, I decided to give it a try. I peeled, sliced, battered, breaded, and fried an enormous eggplant, made my own marinara, and shredded mozarella. The results were divine! At least, food-wise. My kitchen, on the other hand, looked like it had been hit by an Italian tornado. I've retried the recipe several times in the hopes of finding a short-cut to perfection and last night, I think I finally hit it. This involves prepared, store-bought ingredients (hiss hisssss) but makes a great Eggplant Parm, serving four for about $10. The recipe is easily doubled/tripled/etc.

You can, of course, use your favorite brand of jarred marinara in place of the Pomi. But if you have access to a World Market in your area, I would highly recommend trying this one. I haven't had much success getting the flavors I wanted out of a from-scratch marinara (cooked either all day or quickly) and could not find a jarred one that came close to anything good. Until I found the Pomi. It's really really excellent. I swear. I stock up on several boxes and use it with pasta, lasagna, meatballs, parmigiana... anything, really, that requires a marinara sauce.

I was super excited to find the frozen breaded eggplant at Trader Joe's. I've never seen it anywhere else but I haven't been looking, either. I used my deep fryer to thaw and brown the eggplant slices - 4 minutes at 375 was plenty. The directions say they can also be baked or nuked and I'm certain that'd be just fine.

Ingredients
1 pkg Trader Joe's Eggplant Cutlets
1 pkg Pomi Tomato Marinara
2 c shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 c shredded parmesan cheese
optional - red pepper flakes for a little heat, fresh basil

Preheat oven to 375'. Prepare the eggplant slices per package directions.  In a 2 - 2 1/2 qt casserole dish, put a thin layer of marinara at the bottom, add a layer of eggplant slices, more marinara, and a hefty layer of mozzarella. You should have enough ingredients to add two more layers of eggplant, marinara, and mozzarella. Top it off with some parmesan cheese and bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly and golden. Served with a green salad and some garlic bread, this will make a thoroughly filling meal with little effort and little mess!

No pictures of the finished product... we ate it before I thought to get the camera!!