Baked Eggplant With Garlic, Tomatoes, and Fresh Herbs

Home style eggplant and tomato casserole is wonderful as a main dish, and perfect as a side dish for your favorite vegetable, meat, poultry, or seafood entree. Sauteed eggplant topped with a tomato sauce featuring garlic, onion, herbs, and dry white wine. The sauce is topped with cheese and baked until golden brown and the eggplant is tender.

Eggplant is plentiful throughout the year, and the American purple variety found in most supermarkets and farmers markets are especially nice during peak harvest from late summer through early fall. Slicing the eggplant crosswise into slices makes it an easy task to remove excess liquid. Draining off the liquid from the eggplant slices, and then patting dry is worth the time and effort. The taste and texture are both improved noticeably.

Cook's Notes: If you need or want to, you can substitute chicken broth for the dry white wine.

Baked Eggplant with Garlic, Tomatoes and Fresh Herbs

Ingredients:

1 Large Eggplant, cut crosswise into 1/2" thick slices Coarse Salt 1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil 1 large White Onion, finely chopped 1 Garlic Clove, minced or crushed 1/2 cup Dry White Wine 6 medium Vine Ripened Tomatoes, chopped 2 tablespoons Tomato Paste 1/2 cup chopped Fresh Parsley 2 teaspoons Dried Basil Leaves 1/4 teaspoon Dried Oregano 1/4 teaspoon Dried Thyme 1/2 cup shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese

Preparation:

1. Add eggplant to colander. Salt moderately, toss to coat. 2. Let stand 30 minutes. 3. Pat dry. 4. Add 1/2 the olive oil to large skillet. Heat over medium high heat. 5. Sauté eggplant slices in a few small batches. Brown on both sides lightly. Add additional olive oil as necessary. 6. Remove sauteed eggplant slices to platter. 7. Add onion and sauté until soft. 8. Stir in minced garlic, dry white wine, 5 of the vine-ripened tomatoes (chopped), tomato paste, parsley (reserve 1-tablespoon), basil, oregano, thyme. 9. Bring to a boil. Cover. Reduce heat to low. Simmer 15 minutes. 10. Uncover, and cook additional 10 minutes. Season with salt to taste. 11. Preheat oven to 350 F. 12. Spoon 1/2 the tomato sauce into shallow 2 quart casserole dish. 13. Place 1/2 the eggplant slices over tomato sauce. Repeat layers. 14. Top with remaining chopped tomato. 15. Cover with foil. Bake in preheated oven 30 minutes. 16. Remove cover. Sprinkle cheese over casserole. 17. Bake 15 minutes, uncovered, or until cheese melts. 18. Garnish with reserved parsley.

Delicious eggplant recipes, like this eggplant casserole are a part of nearly every cuisine around the world. For delicious, taste-tested casserole recipes representing the best the culinary world has to offer, head to http://www.CasseroleRecipes.net.

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