Thanks for stopping in. The risotto with the dish sounds like a nice side, which I’m sure gives it a nice, rich, flavor all around.

Again, thanks for stopping in. Please do stop in again.

Best!

I prepare and bread the eggplant (more or less) the same as you (for the middle step, I use 1 egg, some skim milk, and a few shakes of hot sauce and a spoon of italian dressing, and for the last step I mix the bread crumbs with corn meal instead of cheese).

Here’s where it goes different… I arrange the fried eggplant slices in a baking dish almost like a lasagna with eggplant instead of noodles. I sparsely sprinkle the bottom of the dish with breadcrumbs first, then spoon a little “sauce”. I don’t use an actual pasta sauce, I just steal a few spoons of crushed tomato when my husband opens the can to start whatever he’s cooking. And I shred a little mozzarella and a sparse spoon of crushed-tomato between layers. I am very stingy with the cheese and “sauce”. The final result is dry compared to eggplant parm, but dry in the sense that it lacks internal sauce and cheesiness, not in a “dried out” sense. I bake it quickly and serve it in pie slices (like a quiche or a pizza).

On top of that, I spoon homemade salsa.

And here is the major major meal planning difference that leaves you NOT missing pasta sauce… I serve it with risotto instead of pasta. Sometimes on the side I have a cucumber sour cream sauce or a cucumber yogurt sauce for the risotto. So it’s like a generic Mediterranean smorgasbord in the end. But in that context, the salsa pairs very nicely with the eggplant instead of like a failed substitution.

In my experience it comes out light and crisp and browned. I was happy with the amount of moisture left in post-baking–crisp breaded outside with tenderness inside.

I’ve never made eggplant parmesan in your style ever, so I’ve never made it with sausage. I have made my lasagna-like version with various additions, such as Italian sausage bits. Since all the components of my lasagna-like dish are pre-cooked (or safe uncooked) I’ve found that a variety of pre-cooked ingredients can be added as the moment’s imagination desires.

Baking it simply doesn’t make as much of the flavors come out in my experience…though I suppose with more experimentation and perhaps baking it longer it might work…I like frying it until its a deep brown color…

what do you do when you bake it??

Allen, have I ever made you the above dish with sausage?? it was a standard dish I made for guests for a long time…

What is the consistency of the baked eggplant post baking? Does it dry out easily?

I’ve never done this dish with pasta…I’ve always layered the eggplant together (after baking the eggplant separately) and assembled it like a lasagna. The pasta approach is interesting…