100 Days of Pinning: Eggplant Parmesan

My husband and I have been trying to cut out bad carbs from our diet. Unfortunately, with us both being Italian, this presents us with some difficulties when it comes to menu planning. Lasagna, stuffed shells, manicotti... all OUT. So when I found this recipe for eggplant parmesan on Pinterest one day, I thought I'd give it a try. If it can impress my extremely carnivorous Italian husband, then it would be one for the books.

Ingredients:
-1 eggplant
-olive oil
-2 eggs
-2 cups breadcrumbs (I used Panko)
-about 2 cups of spaghetti sauce (ideally, I'd use homemade, but I didn't have any on hand, so I used Prego - traditional)
-1/2 cup mushrooms (I added this to the recipe)
-12 slices of mozzarella cheese (I used fat free mozz)
-parmesan cheese (about 1/2 cup)
-shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Let me first note that I made a few changes to the recipe. For starters, I'd always been taught to let your eggplant drain for at least 30 minutes before baking it. So after I sliced the eggplant into 1/2 inch slices, I placed it in a colander to drain.

After 30 minutes, line 2 baking sheets with aluminum foil and spray (or spread) some olive oil onto the sheets. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Then, beat the 2 eggs, along with a tablespoon of water, in a bowl. Then put your 2 cups of breadcrumbs in another bowl.

Dredge each piece of eggplant in the egg mixture first, then coat evenly with the breadcrumbs. Place onto the covered baking sheet, and drizzle with a little bit of olive oil. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes, turning once halfway through the cook time. When you remove the eggplant, it should be a nice golden brown. (*note, if using Panko like I did, the color will likely be a little bit lighter).

Next, in an 8x8 glass baking casserole, begin to layer the following ingredients: sauce first! Followed by eggplant, mushrooms, sliced cheese... and repeat until you have about 3-4 layers.