Eggplant parmesan a la melissa

Ingredients

• 1 eggplant
• about 1 dozen eggs
• 1/2 cup milk
• 4 tbsp pesto
• 1 container italian style bread crumbs
• vegetable oil, for frying
• 28 ounces crushed tomato
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 of a white onion, diced
• salt, pepper
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• t teaspoons basil
• 1 teaspoons oregano
• 2 blocks frozen, chopped spinach, thawed and drained well
• 4 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 handful Parmesan cheese

For the tomato sauce:

• Of course, you can cheat and use canned tomato sauce. Some of it is quite good.

You may like

Eggplant rollatini parmigiana style

Preparation

• Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a sauce pan. When oil is hot, add garlic. Saute for 30 seconds to a minute - be careful not to burn it. Add onion and saute until translucent (a minute or two). Add tomatoes and stir well. Add all spices. Stir. Cover and simmer for 20-30 minutes. Set aside.
• For the eggplant:
  Peel it, then slice it. The slices should be no more than 1/2" thick - less is better.
• From Food pics:
  Dip the eggplant in the eggs, transfer the eggplant to the bread crumbs and coat. Leave them on the right side plate when you're done with them. Heat vegetable oil in a large frying pan. Place the eggplant slices in the oil for 2-3 minutes and flip. Place cooked slices on several layers of paper towels to soak up extra oil.
• Putting the dish together:
  Preheat the oven to 350. In a large casserole dish, spread some of the tomato sauce over the bottom. Place several eggplant slices in a single layer over the sauce. Dribble more sauce over the eggplant. You don't want to add too much sauce, it will make the dish mushy. Take a handful of the thawed and drained spinach, and squeeze to drain any excess liquid. Spread it over the eggplant/sauce layer. Over the spinach, spread a handful or two of mozzarella cheese. Over that, dribble some more tomato sauce. Repeat these steps until the topmost layer. The topmost layer should end with the mozzarella cheese.
  
• From Food pics:
  Cover with tin foil and bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Remove tin foil and bake another 10 minutes, or until the top layer of cheese is melted and slightly brown.