Baked!

I had lots of ambition today so made the eggplant dish.

sliced, oiled and salted

 baked both sides

 egg, ricotta, parm, parsley mixture

 sauce, eggplant, mixture and mozzarella

 three layers ready to bake

 BAKED!

 SERVED!

me-hot and tired

~~~~~~~~~RECIPE~~~~~~~~~

INGREDIENTS

• 2 pounds eggplant, 1 large or 2 medium
• olive oil spray
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 12 ounces part-skim ricotta, Polly-o is the only brand I use
• 1/4 cup + 2 tbsp Pecorino Romano
• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 large egg
• 2 cups part-skim mozzarella, I used Sargento
• 4 cups homemade tomato sauce or jarred marinara, I use Prego

Preheat oven to 450°F.

Spray 2 sheet pans with oil.

Slice the eggplant lengthwise into 1/4 inch thick slices. Transfer to the prepared pans, it's ok if they overlap slightly. Season with salt. Bake for 20 minutes, turning halfway through until eggplant is golden.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl combine ricotta, egg, parsley and 1/4 cup of grated cheese.

Put 1/2 cup tomato sauce on the bottom of a 9x12 baking dish, add 1/3 of eggplant to cover the bottom of the dish. Top with 1/3 of the ricotta cheese mixture, 1 cup of the mozzarella cheese and 1 cup of the sauce.

Add another layer of eggplant and repeat the ricotta cheese, mozzarella cheese and sauce two more times, reserving the third layer mozzarella for topping. 

Finish with 1 1/2 cups of sauce, mozzarella, and the remaining 2 tablespoons of grated cheese.

Heat the oven to 400°.

Cover with foil and bake until cheese is melted and everything is bubbling, about 40 minutes.

Remove foil and bake an additional 10 minutes.

Take it out of the oven and let it sit about 10 minutes before cutting.