I’m always profusely badgering politely asking my friends and family to put together posts to go up on the blog.  Green Dog Dad always SWEARS he is putting something together – but he never does…

FINALLY (yes, friends and family – I’m giving you a very exaggerated FINALLY!!!!) – ONE of my friends took me up on the offer! 

Kate’s sense of humor is up there with Mama Pea’s – so if you take the time to read one guest post today – make it this one – not just for Kate’s jokes – but for the INSANE Eggplant Parm recipe! 

Hello GDW Readers –

First things first …this is me (Kate, on left) & sister (Kristin, on right)

If you read GDW regularly, you might recognize this “Kristin” – since she graduated High School with Allison, has been her friend for over a decade, was in her wedding, and is now her boss… I figured she should be included… I was bored in Cleveland (flew in from Charlotte) and asked my Grandparents (visiting from NY) to teach me their ways in the kitchen…this resulted in me not understanding what they were saying and forcing my mom to take reference photos…which then turned into her suggesting I become a blogger, so I figured a guest post for Allison would be enough to make her proud.

To my Grandmother’s dismay, Kristin & I are vegetarians (“the pits”)…so I requested we make her famous Eggplant Parmesan. We started at 7:30am, with my Grandpa’s famous marinara (said: MAH-RI-AH-NAH-RA) – to HIS dismay, I couldn’t stop giggling like a 12-year old every time he said it.

We made a ton (for my sister to freeze) – so when I asked him to pare down the recipe he said “Katie, the mahrianahra is all about your own flavors, add what you want, smell it, taste it, tweak it, and EAT it.” So I sort of guessed on measurements here. Don’t forget, Grandma says it’ll keep in the fridge for about 2 weeks, or you can freeze it in individual servings.

Marinara Sauce (will make enough for 1-2 eggplant)

• Heat olive oil (2-3 glugs) over medium high heat in saucepan
• Add ¼ onion, finely chopped
• Once the onions are translucent, add about 3 cloves of garlic (Kath says I have a “weak palette” so I use about 5 cloves)
• Add 1 28-ounce can of Tomato Puree (or chopped/crushed, etc.)
• Add lots of dried Oregano (I’d guess a tsp), and then a little less of Basil, and Black Pepper (strictly instructed to not use salt).
• Bring to a simmer…you can let it sit on low-medium heat for hours; it will only taste better with time!

Eggplant Prep

• Peel and Slice (thinly) the Eggplant (we used 3 to make about 20 pieces of eggplant parmesan…)
• Drain Eggplant:
• Put a colander inside of a bowl.
• Put down one layer eggplant and salt (liberally)
• Continue layering/salting
• Weigh down the eggplant – we used a bowl with some rice as the weight

Drain for at least an hour (we made the sauce, and prepped the filling during this hour)

You’ll have a bowlful of icky, bitter juice to toss (that I tried for “fun” …don’t do it) Next you’ll need to rinse the eggplant, and then place on a towel, and cover with another towel and press lightly. Let it sit for a few minutes.Onto the good part…the cheesy filling. 

Eggplant Filling

• 1 lb Freshly Grated Mozzarella (Grandma says fat free is not good in this recipe)
• 1 cup Bread Crumbs
• 1 cup Grated Parmesan
• 3 eggs

Mix together in a large bowl – I used a wooden spoon but Grandma got mad and stuck her hands in to finish it…so hands might be the best option if you don’t want Grandma Rita to show up on your doorstep! Eggplant Patties (FINALLY…the best part!)

• Heat olive oil in a heavy skillet, over medium-high heat. You will need to continuously add oil because it is soaked up by the eggplant very quickly
• Take some filling and create a patty out of it, put it between two eggplant slices

Add a bunch of the eggplant “sandwiches” to the skillet, and heat until lightly browned, then flip and cook other side. Transfer to a glass baking dish that has some sauce on the bottom so they don’t stick. If you’ll be freezing them, you can put them into foil tins as we did…each one is about 2-3 servings worth.Once you’ve transferred to baking dish, cover with more sauce, and bake at 400*F for about 40 minutes.After baking you can cool, then freeze, or you can add thinly sliced fresh mozzarella (Grandpa says “mOOt-sAH-relle) and bake until bubbly and cheese is melted and serve. If you freeze – you can reheat by covering with foil, and baking at 350 until sauce is bubbling…uncover, and add mozzarella.Here’s how Grandma serves it up:Yummy!!! Thanks to Grandma and Grandpa I can now go back to Charlotte and make an Italian feast.