Dani's Eggplant Parmesan

This one turned out really well; so well, in fact, that my man called it "perfect" so I thought I'd better share. This takes about an hour to make (most of that is just "waiting time")and serves 4.


LAYER ONE 
1 eggplant
1.5 Tbsp salt
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp pepper

 LAYER TWO 
1 jar of PC roasted tomato sauce

LAYER THREE 
1 large dinner roll
6 springs of fresh oregano

 LAYER FOUR 
150g medium swiss cheese
150g grated parmesan
1 egg beaten


PREP 

Slice your eggplant to about 1/2 inch thick, salt thoroughly on both sides, place in a colander either in the sink or with a dish underneath to catch the liquid. Leave 30 minutes. 15 or so minutes later you can mix LAYER FOUR together in a bowl and have it ready (FYI it will be a pretty thick mixture). Cut your dinner roll into cubes and put them aside. Remove the leaves from the oregano stalks and put them aside. Just before your half hour is up, put the olive oil in a fry pan on medium-high and shake some pepper in it. You'll know the oil is hot enough when the pepper starts sizzling in the pan. While waiting for that to happen, rinse the salt off the eggplant slices. Next, fry your eggplant on both sides. Use more olive oil for the next panful if necessary. The eggplant flesh should turn green (not brown) when it's ready. Place along the bottom of a 12" x 9" dish (or similar). Heat the oven to 350 F.

BUILDING THE CASSEROLE 


The idea is to layer each of the layers above at least twice. Start with eggplant, then pour some tomato sauce on top, then sprinkle cubes of bread and fresh oregano. Next put some of the cheese and egg mixture. I use my hands because of how thick it is and just disperse little globs of it across the layer (I don't cover the entire pan with it). Do it all over again. Cover the dish with tinfoil. If your pan is really full you might want to put some toothpicks in the food so that the tinfoil isn't touching it (the cheese will stick and make a mess if it's touching). bake for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes remove the tinfoil, crank the oven to broil and put back in until the cubes of bread on the top turn golden. Et voila!