Baked Eggplant Parmesan with homemade breading

This is one of my favorite ways to cook eggplant and it impresses your friends if each slice of eggplant is topped with a green basil leaf. Sometimes I’ll fry the eggplant instead of baking it.

-John

Ingredients:

2-3 medium or large eggplants
Fresh basil leaves
1 cup corn meal
2 tablespoons wheat germ
2 tablespoon white sesame seeds
2 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 egg
Salt
1 cup mozzarella cheese
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preparation

Wash and peel eggplants. Slice them into half inch thick round pieces. Lay them out flat onto a large cutting board and sprinkle salt on each one. Wait about 5 minutes for them to “sweat” out beads of water. Dry them off with a paper towel. Flip them over and salt the other sides, wait for them to sweat and dry them off. This process will make for a crispier result.

While waiting for the eggplant to expel excess water, beat the egg in a small bowl.

In another small bowl combine the dry ingredients- corn meal, wheat germ, sesame seed, oregano, and black pepper.

Grease a large glass baking dish. Dip the eggplant slices one by one first in the beaten egg and then into the breading mixture thoroughly coating on all sides. Place the slices in the baking dish. Bake at 350°F for 50 minutes. Take out of oven and place one basil leaf on each slice of eggplant. Sprinkle both mozzarella and parmesan cheeses over everything. Serve over pasta with a marinara sauce.

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