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We invited dinner guests who had given up meat for Lent, so we enjoyed grilled cheese sandwiches, broccoli cheese soup, classic salad and cranberry cake. We had provolone tomato sandwiches and fried egg cheddar sandwiches. What I want to tell you about is the Eggplant Provolone Sandwich. I’ve become such a huge fan of eggplant. You will see more recipes in the coming weeks. I discovered that a lot of that salting and draining, and whatever it is that they do to eggplant before actually cooking with it, is often a huge waste of time. What I’ve described below works for me and tastes sweet and delicious.
Because I used a round loaf of sourdough bread, I sliced the eggplant lengthwise into 1/2″ slices. They fit nicely onto the bread that way. You could slice them into rounds if that’s what will fit your bread better. Slice the skin of each piece of eggplant every inch or so. [I did not want anyone to bite into their sandwich and pull out the entire eggplant piece because they couldn’t break the skin with their teeth.] Dip an eggplant slice into flour and then into an egg wash (2 eggs mixed with 2 Tbsp. water) and fry in olive oil on medium until well browned and cooked through. You will have to add more olive oil as you go through the batches. The eggplant should be tender when stuck with a fork. Drain on paper towels.
To assemble the sandwich, place sliced provolone cheese on bread slice, followed by eggplant, then provolone, then top bread slice, then butter. Place buttered side down on hot griddle, then butter top. Watch the bottom so it doesn’t burn. Provolone melts quite easily, so this should go quickly. Turn over to brown the other side. Remove from heat, cut in half, serve.
I ran into a neighbor at the grocery store last week and she told me to go check out the sale produce in the back of the store next to the seafood. Amazing. That day I came home with about 10 bell pepper of various colors for $2.99. That’s what the regular price is for each one. I got the whole bag! Two days ago I picked up a bag of russet potatoes (I’d guess 10 pounds) for $1.99 and a bag of mixed bell peppers and zucchini for $2.99. We are in produce heaven. Tonight I made a zucchini dish of my own invention.
- After you scoop out a lot of the flesh, lay the zucchinis in a greased 11×7″ baking dish and place pieces of mozzarella on top.
- Cover with sauce.
- Sprinkle croutons over the top.
- Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
- Bake, uncovered, for 45-60 minutes. You may need to place a foil tent over the top at about 45 minutes if it gets too brown. YUMMY!
Zucchini Parmesan Bake
1 pound bulk Italian sausage
7 apx. 7″ long zucchini squash
1 jar favorite marinara-type pasta sauce (I like Safeway Arrabiata-very spicy)
8 oz. mozzarella (I like fresh, but the other should be fine)
1 6oz. package seasoned croutons
1 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Fry the Italian sausage in a medium pan until no longer pink. While it is cooking, cut the ends off zucchini and scoop out the soft seed part. Zucchini becomes quite watery while cooking and you want to remove a lot of the interior flesh. Chop the scooped out parts and add to the cooked sausage. Saute a little longer. Add pasta sauce to the Italian sausage mixture and let simmer for an hour, uncovered.
To assemble the dish, lay out the zucchini shells in a greased 11×7″ pan. Cut the mozzarella into pieces and lay the pieces into the zucchini shells. Cover everything with sauce. Sprinkle croutons across the top. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over all. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes. Place a foil tent lightly over the top at about 45 minutes if it starts getting too brown. Remove from heat when you see it bubbling. Let sit for 5-10 minutes.
If you want to make your own sauce and your own croutons, by all means do so. Tonight I used what I had on hand. It was quick and easy. The croutons worked very well to absorb the water created by the cooking zucchini.
Foods Passion 