Eggplant Parmigiana

Eggplant is one of those vegetables that people seem to either love, hate or have never tried.  My husband will admit that he had never tasted it before we were married.  The first time he had my Eggplant Parmesan he became a fan.  He compared it to lasagna.  This is recipe I recommend to try Eggplant for the first time!  

1 large eggplant flour, for dusting 1 egg 1/2 pound mozzarella cheese 3 cups milk 1 tablespoon clarified butter 2 teaspoons olive oil 1 jar of marinara sauce 1 cup dry bread crumbs 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Read more at http://www.recipelion.com/Casserole-Recipes/Olive-Garden-Eggplant-Parmigiana/ct/1#qfTDAgcMQZmISZHH.99

1 large eggplant flour, for dusting 1 egg 1/2 pound mozzarella cheese 3 cups milk 1 tablespoon clarified butter 2 teaspoons olive oil 1 jar of marinara sauce 1 cup dry bread crumbs 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Read more at http://www.recipelion.com/Casserole-Recipes/Olive-Garden-Eggplant-Parmigiana/ct/1#qfTDAgcMQZmISZHH.99

1 large eggplant flour, for dusting 1 egg 1/2 pound mozzarella cheese 3 cups milk 1 tablespoon clarified butter 2 teaspoons olive oil 1 jar of marinara sauce 1 cup dry bread crumbs 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Read more at http://www.recipelion.com/Casserole-Recipes/Olive-Garden-Eggplant-Parmigiana/ct/1#qfTDAgcMQZmISZHH.99

1 large eggplant flour, for dusting 1 egg 1/2 pound mozzarella cheese 3 cups milk 1 tablespoon clarified butter 2 teaspoons olive oil 1 jar of marinara sauce 1 cup dry bread crumbs 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Read more at http://www.recipelion.com/Casserole-Recipes/Olive-Garden-Eggplant-Parmigiana/ct/1#qfTDAgcMQZmISZHH.99

1 large eggplant flour, for dusting 1 egg 1/2 pound mozzarella cheese 3 cups milk 1 tablespoon clarified butter 2 teaspoons olive oil 1 jar of marinara sauce 1 cup dry bread crumbs 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Read more at http://www.recipelion.com/Casserole-Recipes/Olive-Garden-Eggplant-Parmigiana/ct/1#qfTDAgcMQZmISZHH.99

1 large eggplant flour, for dusting 1 egg 1/2 pound mozzarella cheese 3 cups milk 1 tablespoon clarified butter 2 teaspoons olive oil 1 jar of marinara sauce 1 cup dry bread crumbs 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Read more at http://www.recipelion.com/Casserole-Recipes/Olive-Garden-Eggplant-Parmigiana/ct/1#qfTDAgcMQZmISZHH.99

1 large eggplant flour, for dusting 1 egg 1/2 pound mozzarella cheese 3 cups milk 1 tablespoon clarified butter 2 teaspoons olive oil 1 jar of marinara sauce 1 cup dry bread crumbs 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese
Read more at http://www.recipelion.com/Casserole-Recipes/Olive-Garden-Eggplant-Parmigiana/ct/1#qfTDAgcMQZmISZHH.99

Serves: 3 or 4 

EGGPLANT PARMIGIANA INGREDIENTS:

3 or 4 small Eggplant OR 1 large Eggplant

Tomato Sauce (I used Prego Spicy Sausage)

3/4 cup Panko Bread Crumbs

5 oz. Shredded Mozzarella Cheese (or Italian Blend)

1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese

1 Green Pepper (Optional)

1 Egg                         

COOKING STEPS:
 Preheat Oven to 350 degrees

STEP 1: Cut green stem off Eggplant

STEP 2: Peel skin off Eggplant

STEP 3: Cut Eggplant into 1/2" slices

STEP 4: Put Eggplant on cookie sheet and salt first side- wait 15 min- then flip and salt the other side- wait 15 more minutes.  Next rinse and drain the Eggplant. Pat dry and set aside.

(Eggplant can have a bitter taste before you cook it.  I recommend the process of "degorging" the fruit by salting, rinsing and draining it.  This helps to remove any bitterness.)

Purple Tomato Seedlings & the Clay Pot

I have a large clay pot that was given to me when my mom no longer needed it.  The first year we moved to our house I decided to use it on our deck to grow some small yellow tomatoes.  Everyone who came over was amazed at how big the tomato plant was and how much it produced.  Flash forward.  This is the fourth year I have planted a tomato in this pot.  I don't know what the deal is but this pot was made to grow tomatoes!!   

The "Amazing" Tomato Pot

Next year I want to look around and see if I can find another large clay pot similar to this one.  All the tomatoes I have grown in this pot have tripled the size of the other tomatoes I have grown.   Last week I was able to harvest 13 tomatoes from the plant (with at least 4 to 5 more to come) and then make a yummy cold salad using some of the tomatoes.  Fresh tomatoes are incredible!

Fresh Mozzarella Tomato Salad with Basil from the Garden!

Beefsteak Tomatoes

June 20th Update

I have been checking on the garden in the morning and again in the evening.  This is the time of year that the Squash Vine Borer attack so I am watching closely.  We had to remove our row covers because the plants were outgrowing them (and some plants need to be pollinated by bees).  We had no idea that everything would get so big so fast.  We did make a taller row cover for BED #2 (which you can see below in the picture).  This is an experiment so we will see if it works.   

For reference BED #1 (Asparagus) starts on the left.

Evidence that my little helper has been digging in the dirt!

Zinnias are just starting to bloom!

Tomato plants on deck.

BED# 1- (pictured below) Asparagus, Parsley, Tomatoes (just planted) & Basil (just planted).

Baby Tomato plants & Basil plants (just planted after removing Peas)

Asparagus are very happy.  Next year we can start harvesting them.  
For the first year we just let them fern out.

My amazing Asparagus Beetle catcher!

Each day I check for Asparagus Beetles and I find them on the plants!  I use the glass jar pictured above and I have it filled with water and some liquid dish soap.  I find the beetle put the jar under it and knock it in.  This is much easier than trying to get them with your fingers. 

BED# 2- (pictured below) Cauliflower, Broccoli, Corn, Pole Beans & Winter Squash.

Help the Cauliflower & Broccoli are falling out of the beds!

 

Our first sign of Broccoli!

I made a mistake by planting the Winter Squash plants that I had already started indoors with the corn and beans.  We were trying to do the 3 Sisters Iroquois tradition but I wasn't patient and planted the Squash before the corn and beans.  I had to add cages to the Squash so it wouldn't take over.  This will be interesting!

More detail of Squash, Corn & Beans

 CENTER OF GARDEN- (pictured below) Two Watermelon plants.  This is our first year to try them.

Growing in ground between BED #2 & #3

BED# 3- (pictured below) Onions, Carrots, Bush Beans & Summer Squash.

This bed is out of control!
(Next year we need to pick some of the Onions earlier so they don't overtake the Carrots)

Onion blooming??

(3) Summer Squash in back of BED #3

 BED# 4- (pictured below) Bush Zucchini, Peppers, Eggplant & Cucumbers.

 

Female bloom on Zucchini

The Zucchini are happy!

Garden Update- June 8th

Everything is continuing to grow in the garden.  It is amazing how quickly the plants mature at this point.   We were able to harvest our first peas today and one Zucchini has a flower! 

Front Beneficial Flower Bed

BED# 1- (pictured below) Peas, Asparagus & Parsley

Peas ready to pick!  They should be harvested every 1 to 3 days to get peak quality.  Today we picked about 1 cup of peas and then put them in the freezer.  You can also eat them right away or store them in the refrigerator.

Caterpillar of Monarch Butterfly (munching on our Parsley)

BED# 2- (pictured below) 
Broccoli, Cauliflower, (3 Sisters: Corn, Winter Squash & Pole Beans) Peas.

Plants have almost outgrown the Row Cover

BED# 3- (pictured below) 
Onions, Carrots, Bush Beans and Summer Squash

BED# 4- (pictured below) 
Zucchini, Peppers, Eggplant and Cucumbers.

Front left Zucchini is starting to flower!

Garden Update-May 25th

A quick picture update of the gardening growing!

BED #1- (pictured above) Peas starting to produce pods! 

BED #2- (pictured above) Broccoli & Cauliflower getting taller.  Winter Squash and Corn growing behind them.  Peas continuing to grow!

 BED #3- (pictured above) Onions, Bush Beans & Summer Squash.

BED #4- (pictured above) Zucchini, Peppers, Eggplant & Cucumbers.

Flower beds- (pictured above) Seeds starting to grow. 

Planting Zuchinni, Peppers, Eggplant, & Cucumber

We planted the Zucchini, Peppers, Eggplant and Cucumber plants in the garden a week earlier than planned on May 19th.  Because we have row covers with Garden Quilt Cover Fabric we felt confident that these heat loving plants could be transplanted with confidence. 
Normally you would wait to transplant eggplants into the garden until soil & air temperatures are consistently in the 70’s. For peppers you hold off until the soil is 65 degrees F.

Wheelbarrow with all supplies for planting

Laying out plants with Square Foot Gardening Method (SFGM) for spacing

This year we decided to start all the squash seeds indoors (our first time trying this) to give the plants a head start.  I planted them all in pots that decompose when planted because its best if you don't disturb their roots. All the seedlings were successful and we actually gave many away to friends because we didn't have space for all of them in the garden. 

Cucumbers (to grow up trellis) with Eggplants in front

This is our first year growing cucumbers so it will be a learning experience.  We are going to grow them vertically which is recommended in SFGM so we can conserve space in the garden for other plants.  

Below is a picture of the actual layout of Bed #4 and then beside it is the plan we drew up this winter using the SFGM spacing.

Plan for BED #4 using SFGM

Bed #4  ready to plant

Plants in BED #4 (starting from the top or back of the bed) : 
(16) Peas (after peas replant spaces)* with (8) Cucumbers
(12) Black Beauty Eggplant
(4) Red Bell Pepper
(4) Sweet Pepper
(2) Dark Star Zucchini

*This is the first year we have attempted to use succession planting (using efficient use of timing by planting a cool season spring crop followed by a heat-loving summer crop).  Unfortunately the timing didn't work out completely.  The peas were planted on March 17th but we had snow and because of that the peas took longer than expected to start growing. 
Next year we are going to have to start the peas earlier so that they have produced before we need to do the next planting.  I ended up just pulling out the peas in this bed (this bed only had 4 plants) so I could plant the cucumbers in their place. 

Pepper plant

All of these plants were grown in pots that I could plant in the garden.  All of these heat loving plants have a delicate root system so this way I didn't have to worry about them going into shock when they were planted in the garden.  You simply cut 1/2" off the top of the pot and then place the pot in the hole you have ready.  Cover up with soil, water and you are done!

Transplanted seedlings

We are excited to see the transplanted seedlings growing and are wondering how they will compare to those we bought last year.  At first we were a little concerned because our seedlings are much smaller in size than those we purchase.   However, I have read that smaller stockier transplants generally outperform those purchased because they experience far fewer problems with transplant shock than large plants.  Only time will tell!

Row Cover with Garden Quilt Fabric

Last Step: always finish by watering your newly transplanted plants.  One important tip: water around your plants not wetting the leaves.  Plants can develop fungal diseases if the leaves are wet going into the night.