Faced with an over abundance of late season veggies from my garden, I combined a few eggplant recipes and came up with this quick and delicious dish. I happened to grow a long and skinny variety of eggplant called Chinese Eggplant. Its color is a lighter shade of purple than the traditional eggplant and has less seeds.
- Slice enough eggplant to fill a large cookie sheet and lay them on parchment paper coated with olive oil. Brush olive oil on the tops of the sliced eggplant and season them with either garlic powder or Mrs. Nash. I sliced my eggplant in thin slices and quartered them as you can see in this picture. Bake in oven at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes. (insert picture of sliced eggplant)
- Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add 1 small onion chopped, 3 gloves garlic chopped, 3 – 4 small tomatoes chopped, sliced mushrooms, peppers and olives are optional. Cook for several minutes.
- In a medium bowl mix together 1/2 cup ricotta cheese, 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese and 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese. Set aside.
- Place the eggplant slices in a greased 9 x 13 baking dish. Top with the tomato mixture. Spoon the cheese mixture over in a thin layer. Pour spaghetti sauce over the top and sprinkle remaining cheeses over the top. Sprinkle Italian seasonings for the final touch.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until heated thoroughly and the eggplant is easily pierced with a fork.
