Baked Eggplant Parmesan - BETA

This is not a recipe. Rather, it is a proto-recipe. I improvised this dish last night and this is approximately how I did it. I may tweak the directions in the future. If you're adventurous, use this as a rough guideline and create your own version.

Ingredients

• 2 T. olive oil
• 1 lb. Italian sausage
• 1 medium or large eggplant
• 1 egg
• 1 c. bread crumbs
• 8 oz. fresh Mozzarella cheese, sliced into coins
• 1 c. shredded Parmesan cheese
• 14 oz. pasta sauce
• Dried basil
• Dried oregano
• Salt and pepper

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Heat olive oil in a 12" skillet over medium heat.
3. When oil is hot, add Italian sausage. Cook thoroughly. Drain on paper towels. When cool, crumble completely.
4. Break the egg into a bowl and beat well.
5. Peel eggplant and cut into 1/4" slices. Dip slices in egg and arrange evenly in a lasagna tray. Sprinkle with half of the bread crumbs.
6. Bake eggplant for 10 minutes. Turn eggplant and sprinkle with remaining bread crumbs. Bake for another 10 minutes.
7. Remove lasagna tray from oven and reduce temperature to 350F.
8. Pour about a third of the pasta sauce over the eggplant slices, then turn the slices over.
9. Distribute Mozzarella slices evenly on top of eggplant.
10. Distribute 1/2 of Parmesan on top of eggplant.
11. Sprinkle basil, oregano, salt, and pepper to taste on top of eggplant.
12. Spread remainder of pasta sauce on top of eggplant.
13. Sprinkle remainder of Parmesan cheese over all.
14. Bake for 45-60 minutes.

Yield: 4 servings, assuming that you have a salad or bruschetta to round out the meal.