eggplant is a fruit

the eggplant parmesan i made the other day turned out so good. i didn't even have any fresh herbs or parmesan.... oh wait, could i even call it parmesan then? i guess instead i have to call it eggplant mozzarella. haha...

so first thing i did was washed and cut 2 eggplants (into circles) and 'sweat' them out by salting both sides and letting the pieces sit in a colander to drain for a couple hours before. they really let out a ton of liquid.... washed em, patted them dry. then i did the frying process... floured, egged, and breadcrumbed. put a little olive oil in a pan and fried both sides till browned. sauteed up some shallots and garlic. got out a baking dish... put a layer of eggplant, tomato sauce, the shallots/garlic, shredded mozzarella cheese, more eggplant, more sauce, more cheese and breadcrumbs on top. baked in the oven for about 25 minutes, then added fresh mozzarella on top and cooked till it bubbled on top. it tasted amazing... even if i didn't put the right ingredients in it.

i took advice from not the best sounding recipe (for the basics- like how to sweat the eggplant, order of ingredients in the dish, times/temperature, etc), if you're interested.

i will be making this again next week. it makes mean leftovers. i'll put in fresh herbs (like basil) next time, and actually get some delicious fresh parmesan from the market nearby.. and maybe i'll cut the eggplant different next time, lengthways and peel them to see if it makes much of a difference.