Healthy Eggplant Parm

IIII LOOOOOVE EGGPLANT!!!!

My favorite dish my mom makes me for my Birthday meal, to this day, is her Eggplant Parmigiana… oh my God… it is sooooooo delectable…BUT it’s also a little lot on the heavy side.

Enter my new eating regime, and weight loss, and frame of mind… and my desire to reformulate every recipe I love, to fit my new healthy world… and you have this recipe.

I hope you try it and like it

First… the sauce… NO SELF RESPECTING ITALIAN WOULD EVER CONDONE USING STORE BOUGHT JARRED SAUCE.. sorry… I have to put my foot down on this one…it’s who I am…

Do this instead…

Chop 6-10 Roma Tomatoes into little pieces OR open two cans of whole peeled tomatoes in their own juice, (no seasonings) and chop them up a little with your hands by squishing them.

chop 2 cloves garlic (or more)

chop 1 onion (small) (or more)

grab a tablespoon of dried oregano, parsley and fresh basil (or whatever herb you like)

a little salt and pepper

Saute’ onion and garlic in some olive oil… toss in tomatoes and herbs and seasoning… stir and simmer on low…

IN THE MEANTIME…


Gather 2 large eggplant
a wedge of HARD grating cheese (I use Pecorino Romano) BUT YOU can use whatever floats your boat.
{{for my family and others that aren’t on the no dairy, no bread plan that I am on… I add a little mozzarella cheese and bread crumbs to the dish… }} Just a little, because less is more…

I cut the Eggplant into long, spaghetti like strands… oh man… I need to get pictures… I’ll do it soon…OR you can slice them into ’steaks’ and brush them with olive oil and broil them…

Heat up a pan to piping hot with a little olive oil in it, and saute the eggplant strands until they are done and floppy

Mix in your homemade sauce, sprinkle with cheese (here’s where I add the bread crumbs and mozzarella for my family after I’ve taken my portion out) and place into a baking dish and sprinkle with a little more hard cheese…

Bake on high at 350 for about 15 minutes…

It’s not EXACTLY like my Mama’s Eggplant Parm… but it’s a really close second… it’s healthy, and it tastes like a billion calories…