Eggplant Parmesan

While on vacation in Italy, I had THE BEST eggplant parmesan ever.  Seriously.  It actually was the best meal I had the entire trip.  I do not lie.  When we came back to the States, I kinda wanted more.  So, I looked up eggplant parmesan recipes to try and found an easy one at allrecipes.com.  And honestly, it was a tad time consuming, but it was very easy and the results?  Well worth it!  My hubby even said it's the best thing I've ever made.  Which is sad when you think we've been married 8.5 years...  Anyway, here's the recipe.  Thought I would share since it turned out so well!

Eggplant Parmesan

• Cook Time: 50 min
• Level: Easy

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Ingredients

• 1 medium eggplant sliced
• 1 egg beaten with 2 tablespoons milk (ummm...I kinda forgot the milk.  It works fine with just the egg.)
• Dried Italian bread crumbs
• Olive oil
• 6 ounces tomato paste
• 6 ounces white or red wine
• Pinch dried oregano
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 clove of garlic, crushed
• 1/2 pound mozzarella, sliced (I used shredded)
• 1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Slice washed eggplant 1/2-inch thick. Dip slices into the egg mixture and then into the bread crumbs, coat well. Grease a cookie sheet with olive oil. Arrange each slice of coated eggplant in one layer on the cookie sheet and drizzle each piece with olive oil. Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes. Check that the slices are golden brown, turn then and bake for another 15 minutes. They should be browned on both sides. Set aside.

In a small saucepan dilute the tomato paste with wine. A good mix is a can of paste and a can of wine. Add the oregano, salt, pepper, and crushed garlic. In a baking dish arrange browned eggplant slices in 1 layer. Spread 2 tablespoons of sauce on each slice. Layer each eggplant with a slice of mozzarella and sauce until all is used. Top with Parmesan cheese and bake for about 20 minutes. Serve hot.