Spork and Skewer

Miles started a garden with is students over the summer. It's a fairly large plot of land, and it has flowers and a variety of veggies. There were some some disappointments. For example, rabbits ate the lettuce and the beans never grew. But there were also many successes. We have tomatoes and cucumbers coming out of our ears, the flowers are beautiful, and the kids worked hard and had a lot of fun. The other week Miles brought home two medium eggplants and told me I needed to figure out how we could use them. I thought about it (for quite a while), and I came-up with eggplant parmesan. I first planned to make a layered casserole style, but then I decided I was more in the mood for a sandwich, so here is what I came up with. I hope you enjoy them!

Printable Recipe



























Garden Fresh Eggplant Parm Sandwiches
These would be yummy topped with fresh basil. I think I'll try that next time. 

You will need:
1 cup tomato basil pasta sauce
2 whole tomatoes
2 teaspoons dried basil (divided)
1 teaspoon salt (divided)
1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper (divided)
1/2 cup water
1 medium eggplant
1 egg, beaten
1 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 grated mozzarella cheese
6 bakery sandwich rolls


Preheat the oven to 375 degree. Then, let's start with the marinara sauce. Rinse the tomatoes and slice them in half.





Remove the stem and tough core. Then dice into 1/4 inch pieces.






In a small saucepan, combine the diced tomatoes, jarred sauce, and water. Season with 1/2 teaspoon of salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, and reduce to simmer. 




On to the eggplant. Rinse the eggplant, and slice off the ends.






Slice into one inch pieces.






Grab two shallow dishes. Beat and egg in one, and combine the breadcrumbs, cheese, basil, garlic, and salt and pepper in the second.





Working wtih one slice at a time, dip the eggplant into the egg, and then coat it in the bread crumb mixture. Place them on a nonstick baking sheet.
Drizzle them with olive oil and place them in the oven. Bake for 15 minutes.



As they bake, slice the rolls. After 15 minutes, top them with mozzarella cheese, and return them to the oven for 5 minutes, until melted.






Assemble the sandwiches. I slathered the bottom of the bun with sauce, added a slice of eggplant, and then topped with more sauce. YUM!