Eggplant is one of those vegetables that I have supposedly disliked for a long time, though to be honest, I don’t think I’d ever really tried it. In college one of my friends ordered eggplant Parmesan at dinner and I tried a bite, and it was good. I filed that away, but didn’t really have it again until this year. I’ve been going out to a lot of work-related lunches at a restaurant with an eggplant Parmesan panini on the menu. I ordered it once, and now I get it every single time. It’s phenomenal! I don’t know where my mental dislike of eggplant came from, but I’m glad it’s over now. I decided to try a classic eggplant parmesan recipe to truly appreciate it. Of course it’s delicious – anything breaded and covered with sauce and cheese is bound to be awesome!
This meal definitely takes some time to prepare, so it’s not really suitable for a weeknight unless you want to eat late. It’s really fun to make though. I automatically like any recipe where you work to get excess liquid out of vegetables (like tzatziki sauce or shredded zucchini). We loved this so much, it’s right up there with our beloved chicken Parmesan and we actually can’t decide which we like better. My only change was to cut the original recipe in half (halved version below), but between the three of us there were no leftovers! I did notice that I was a bit short on the breading and had a few leftover slices of eggplant, so I have altered the recipe below to correct this problem. I know I’ll definitely be making this again and again, and I can’t wait to make it into a panini next.