FAMILY FROM OUR WEDDING

Saturday, January 31, 2009

WINNER

I know I usually post photos when I am doing posting about a recipe that I am creating.. however I actually forgot to take the pictures this time..

So please use your fantastic visualization skills ...
Honi's Baked Eggplant Cheesy Thing..

A GOOD FRESH EGGPLANT
MOZARELLA CHEESE ( PART SKIM) FOR SPRINKLING
ROMANO CHEESE FOR SPRINKLING
ITALIAN STYLE BREAD CRUMBS
5 EGG WHITES
PAM
EITHER JARRED OR FRESH TOMATO SAUCE
Fat free milk..

Last Sunday and Monday I created my own sauce.. a very simple one.. I used fresh basil, roma tomatos chunked up, and a small can of tomato paste and a medium can of tomato sauce.. I simmered the sauce for several hours.. on the first batch and did a repeat the next night...
So this sauce was my base..

I took an eggplant cut off the ends, peeled it and sliced it in fairly thin slices .. then I put those slices in bowl of salted water.. I let the eggplant sit for 15-20 minutes Meanwhile I put the convection oven on on Convection Roast and set it at 350.. I took the eggplant out of the water rinsed it off and patted it dry with a paper towel..
Then I put 5-6 fresh egg whites in a bowl and mixed lightly with fat free milk.. and I put the bread crumbs in another bowl..

I use a big cookie sheet Pammed it.. and then put a piece of parchement paper on it and sprayed again.. ( NOTHING WAS GONNA STICK TONIGHT) ..
I took each invidual slice of eggplant , dredged it through the egg whites .. then dredged it through the bread crumbs until a nice coating formed.. ( BE FORWARNED THE BREAD CRUMBS WILL GET CLUMPY SO HAVE EXTRA ON HAND IF NEEDED)
I placed each slice of coated egg plant on the cookie sheet and then I sprayed the tops of each slice with PAM...
I placed this in the oven for about 25 minutes ( checking often for browning )then I flipped the eggplant over and sprayed the other side and placed back in oven for another 15 to 25 minutes or so..

Then I got a small pyrex sprayed it with Pam.. layered the eggplant with the homemade sauce and sprinkled the cheeses on it as well ( SPRINKLE CHEESE LIGHTLY) Bake until eggplant softens and cheeses are melty...and sauce is heated through.. this is a HEALTHY RECIPE and based on the Master selections of recipes I was pulling this from should run you no more than 350 calories .. remember keep serving sizes reasonable and serve with a nice salad.. I used a great yogurt based blue cheese dressing for our salads as well..
For dessert I took sliced strawberries and fresh blueberries and placed them around a little glass bowl with some Light Redi whip for dipping... it was a really devine dinner and Steve said its a KEEPER...
Wish I had some photos but will do photos next time..
Tommorow night we are trying a recipe from the Eating well Comfort food cookbook.. and Creamy hamburger Cassarole.. hope it will be good..
Hope everyone is having a good weekend..
Until next time...

5 comments:

Mouthy Girl said...

I love eggplant. So VERY glad that this recipe wasn't a disappointment. I'm proud of you, woman!

Ann(ie) said...

that eggplant cheesy thang is calling me name......

new*me said...

yum............and stomach is now growling!

cadbury_vw said...

i love eggplant

i see this recipe in my future

Diana Swallow said...

OMG you changed your blog! The white background behind your posts is SO MUCH EASIER on my old eyes!! Thank you thank you thank you!

I bake my eggplant slices like this too before making them into eggplant parm, I do the same with chicken parm, so much better for you than frying.

Great job making your own sauce, its so much tastier and so much better for you!