Aunties Eggplant Parm

8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese ball, sliced ½-inch-thick

1 large Italian eggplant, sliced ¼-inch-thick

3 eggs, beaten

¼ cup milk

½ cup gluten-free all purpose flour

2 cups Coley’s Crumbs breadcrumbs

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

½ onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 34-ounce can diced tomatoes

1 teaspoon dried oregano

½ teaspoon sugar

Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

1 cup grated parmesan cheese

½ cup torn basil, optional

Vegetable oil for frying, enough to fill a large frying pan halfway

Preheat oven to 350°F

In a large frying pan over medium heat add oil. Heat until temperature reaches 350 degrees.

Slice mozzarella cheese and eggplant and set aside. In a shallow bowl mix together egg and milk. Place your flour and breadcrumbs in separate shallow bowls as well. Now take your eggplant and place it in the flour and flip to make sure eggplant is covered in flour, take out and give it a little shake to get off any excess. Next, place it in the egg mixture. Finally place it directly in the breadcrumbs. Make sure to get a nice coating of breadcrumb on the eggplant. Place the dredged eggplant on a rack to rest before frying. Repeat until all eggplant is dredged. A large eggplant should yield you about 8 to 10 slices.

Add eggplant to oil and fry until golden brown, about 2 minutes on each side. Take out of oil and place on a paper towel-lined platter. Repeat until all eggplant is fried.

In a medium pan over medium high heat add olive oil, onion and garlic, sauté for about 5 minutes until onion is translucent. Add in diced tomatoes, oregano, sugar and salt and pepper to taste. Simmer for 15 to 20 minutes until the sauce has reduced slightly.

Butter a 9x13 baking dish and ladle ¼ cup of tomato sauce on the bottom. Take eggplant slices one at a time and layer on the bottom of the dish. Make sure not to overlap slices. Top each eggplant slice with mozzarella cheese slices and top each eggplant slice with another eggplant slice, as to make a sandwich. Ladle more tomato sauce over eggplant sandwiches and repeat with remaining eggplant and sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Garnish with torn basil. Enjoy!