Eggplant Parmesan



photo from http://recipes.terra-organics.com/2010/09/eggplants/



1large eggplant
a few Tbsp floor
1/4 cup butter
salt
pepper
1 or 2 cups mozzarella cheese
1 or 2 cups spaghetti sauce
2/3 pound spaghetti (the whole box is usually too much for my family of 6)

Slice your eggplant  into 1/4 inch pieces. I dipped mine in melted butter quickly and then dipped them in a plate of flour with some salt and pepper mixed into it. After covering them all in the flour mixture, I fried them in some olive oil until they were slightly browned on each side. This made them very soft in the center.
Lay the fried pieces in the bottom of a casserole dish, fitting them in like a puzzle. Spoon spaghetti sauce over the top of all the pieces.
Sprinkle mozzarella cheese over the top.
Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 40 minutes.
Serve with cooked spaghetti noodles tossed in about 1/2 a Tbsp of butter.

As a kid I couldn't stand eggplant. My poor mother tried heroically to disguise it in every way possible, but inevitably one of us 8 kids would suddenly exclaim, "There's EGGPLANT in here!" with disgust!
I know it's weird, but last week at the grocery store I had a sudden urge to give it another try. It wasn't on my shopping list, but I came home that day with a beautiful shiny purple eggplant.
This is a recipe from my mom for chicken parmesan that I tweaked for eggplant.
I can honestly report that I loved it, even the next day for lunch (which is what the photo is from-- I didn't get a picture the first day). I did overcook mine, as you can see from the darkly colored cheese! But it was even good that way. I will be adding eggplant to my diet!