Guest Blogger: Beefy Eggplant Parmigiana

Thank you, thank you, thank you to Monica for providing another recipe for me. This recipe looks and sounds fantastic!

------------------------------------------------------------------
First, let me say, this is the first time I made this and I thought it was FANTASTIC!!! I really like eggplant and thought this was a delicious meal. However, trying to make this low calorie/low fat was harder than I thought it was going to be. First I sautéed the onion and celery WITH the hamburger and then drained so I didn’t have to use any extra oil. Then I tried to fry the eggplant with less oil and I used olive oil instead of vegetable oil. I had to keep adding oil b/c it really sucked up all the oil quickly. I also used quite a bit less cheese (I only did one layer of each kind) and I thought it still tasted great. Overall, it turned out great I would just love to learn a way to cook eggplant lower fat and still have it taste fabulous!

Beefy Eggplant Parmigiana

1/3 cup chopped onion
¼ cup finely chopped celery
1 tsp dried parsley flakes
1/8 tsp garlic powder
2TBS vegetable oil
1 can (14 oz) Italian stewed tomatoes
¼ cup tomato paste
½ tsp dried oregano
1 ¼ tsp salt, divided
½ tsp pepper, divided
1 bay leaf
¾ cup all-purpose flour
1 cup buttermilk
1 medium eggplant, peeled and cut into 3/8 inch slices
Addition vegetable oil
½ cup parmesan cheese
1 pound ground beef, cooked and drained
2 cups (8 oz) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
1 ½ tsp minced fresh parsley

In a large saucepan, sauté onion, celery, parsley, and garlic powder in oil until tender. Stir in the tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, ½ tsp salt, ¼ tsp pepper, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 1hour. Discard bay leaf.

In a shallow dish, combine flour and remaining salt and pepper. Place buttermilk in another shallow dish. Dip eggplant in buttermilk, then in flour mixture.

In a large skillet, cook eggplant in batches in 1 in. of hot oil until golden brown on each side; drain.

Place half of eggplant in a greased 13x9x2 in. baking dish. Top with half of Parmesan cheese, beef, tomato mixture, and mozzarella cheese. Top with remaining eggplant, parmesan cheese, beef and tomato mixture.

Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until heated through. Sprinkle with the remaining mozzarella cheese. Bake 5-10 minutes longer or until cheese is melted. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving. Sprinkle with parsley.