Eggplant Parmesan Casserole - Killing Two Food Wishes with One Delicious Stone

I've received a ton of requests for eggplant Parmesan, and I finally got around to filming my "low-fat" version. Speaking of requests, the most common request I get is for fried foods - fried chicken, onion rings, tempura, french fries, et al - and I always send the same basic reply; great fried foods requires a large commercial deep fryer to really give you the results you crave.

You can do a few things small scale at home with a fry-daddy, but for the most part those deep-fried delicacies you want me to demo are best ordered out. Normally, eggplant Parmesan would fall under this "needs to be fried to be good" category, but in this video recipe you'll see my method for a much easier casserole-style version.

One problem with eggplant is they soak up and incredible amount of oil. They can't help it, it's their nature. To counter this, we reserve the crispiness for the top crust. By using a nice thick layer of crunchy Parmesan breadcrumbs, we get a very similar fork full of food, but at significant caloric savings. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 eggplants
• olive oil as needed
• 3/4 cup ricotta cheese
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan
• 1/4 cup shredded pepper Jack
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced
• 3 cups tomato sauce (prepared pasta sauce is best)
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• for the topping:
• 3/4 cup breadcrumbs
• 2 tbsp olive oil