Parmigiana di Melanzane

What You Need

for the sauce 

• a bunch of chopped, homegrown tomatoes (or two large cans of diced tomatoes if you're desperate)
• two small cans of tomato paste
• five (or more!) cloves of chopped garlic
• two chopped onions (i used shallots because it's what i had)
• 1/4 cup sugar
• a few teaspoons of dried crushed red pepper
• two tablespoons italian seasoning or oregano 
• two tablespoons dried basil (or fresh leaves if you prefer)
• a few teaspoons of salt/pepper to taste
• olive oil

for the eggplant

• one big ass eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch slices
• 3 eggs
• a few tablespoons of water
• 1 cup breadcrumbs seasoned with italian seasoning or dried oregano
• 3 tablespoons grated parmesan
• three logs of shredded low-moisture mozzarella (or two packs from TJ's)
• olive oil

preparation

saute a few tablespoons of olive oil, onion, and garlic on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add remaining ingredients (for the sauce) and cook on medium for as long as possible. the longer the better. while it is cooking, prepare the eggplant. whisk eggs and water together with a fork. Combine breadcrumbs with parmesan. Dip each eggplant slice in the egg mixture and then in the breadcrumb mixture. Cook eggplant in batches in a large skillet over medium heat, roughly four minutes per side in olive oil. Remove from pan and layer eggplant, mozzarella, and sauce. Bake for 35 minutes at 375 degrees. Sprinkle with remainder of mozzarella and a few tablespoons of grated parmesan and bake for ten more minutes or until the cheese turns slightly brown. Buon appetito!

for the sauce

before stacking

forgot to snap a photo of the final presentation, so, here's this