Eggplants are in season. Have you ever made eggplant parm? It’s sooo good; but you have to be careful to get the eggplants nice and crispy. I like the Americas Test Kitchen recipe here. Although sometimes ATK makes you do ridiculous things like brining, yes brining the eggplant for 40 minutes before breading. Sometimes I think they’re playing a practical joke on me, peering in through the windows and laughing at how gullible I am, “She’s brining the eggplant! She’s really doing it!”. I did. I brined the eggplant first.
You don’t pan fry them either. You oven fry them. They get so crispy and delicious. I could have gobbled them up right then and there. Then you layer them with sauce and parm. Bake a little longer. It’s a bit involved (with all that brining and all), but it’s worth it. The texture is crispy and it has got huge taste compared to the chicken parm version.Although, Hank prefers his spaghetti plain with butter, parm and a dash of ridiculousness