Eggplant parmesan almost/sometimes sandwiches  

Leslie had a dream this weekend involving eggplant parmesan sandwiches featuring a habanero-marinara sauce (habanara). So when we were out shopping, we got an eggplant. Despite the fact that I knew nothing about eggplant preparation, I decided to make eggplant parmesan sandwiches today.

I learned a lot on the Internets about eggplants today. I learned that they are too moisture-heavy, and should be dried considerably before consumption. I also found out that the best place to look for a good eggplant parmesan is a Philly steak house joint. I guess the theory is that if they are good Italian cooks, they're good Italian cooks..anyways, perhaps I'll test the theory some time and let y'all know.

I warmed the oven a hair, and laid out some lengthwise-sliced eggplant for several hours. When I started actually preparing dinner, I began by slicing whole mushrooms and zucchini and laid them out over the long eggplants. I heated those for 'a while' in the oven at 300 degrees. For the marinara sauce, I took a small can of tomato paste and heated it with garlic and olive oil, added one chopped Roma tomato, some chopped green peppers, and the detritus from the mushroom chopping earlier, simmering them for a good bit with onion and garlic powder.

When it came time to serve, I reheated the sauce, added some basil, spinach, and mixed greens along with some dried herbs. For the 'sandwich' part, I sliced as thinly as I could a loaf of rosemary olive oil bread and laid out grated parmesan cheese. The eggplant sandwiches were served with a spinach salad.


It was a good, if flimsy, sandwich. I was happy with my first time cooking with eggplant. I didn't make any more sandwiches, but for seconds we ate the vegetables topped with sauce, and just pulled chunks of bread. I wish we had a bread slicer..