Parmigiana di Melanzane (Eggplant Parmesan plus a chicken breast for DC)

Mario Batali was on the today show a few weeks ago making personalized portions of eggplant parm. Sounded good to me, so last week I made some for din, and added one chicken breast layer for the hubs.

Drew's with chicken as the bottom layer, served with asparagus.

Eggplant Parmesan: adapted from Mr. Batali to serve 2

1 medium sized Egglpant
Salt
4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup bread crumbs, seasoned with 1/4 chopped fresh basil leaves
2 cups Tomato Sauce (my recipe below)
1 pound ball fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced (or freshly grated)
*The mozzarella must be thinly sliced or grated so the eggplant layers don't slide
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Slice the eggplant horizontally about 1/4-inch thick. Sprinkle with salt and set aside to rest about 30 minutes while you make the tomato sauce.

In a sauté pan, heat the extra-virgin olive oil until just smoking. Press the drained eggplant pieces into the seasoned bread crumb mixture and sauté until light golden brown on both sides. (do this with your chicken breast also)



On baking pan lay out the 4 largest pieces of eggplant. Place 2 tablespoons of tomato sauce over each piece and place a thin slice of mozzarella on top of each and sprinkle with Parmigiano.


Then top each with the next smallest piece of eggplant, then sauce then mozzarella. Repeat the layering process until all the ingredients have been used, finishing again with the Parmigiano.


Place the pan in the oven and bake until the top of each little stack is golden brown and bubbly, about 15 minutes.



Tomato Sauce:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium sweet onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped
1 tbl fresh basil leaves
1 (28-ounce) cans crushed tomatoes or tomato puree
S&P
Heat the olive oil over medium heat in saucepan. Add the onion and garlic and cook until transluscent, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the tomatoes and juice and bring to a boil, stirring often. Lower the heat and simmer for 30 minutes until thickened. Season with S&P.