Roast Eggplant Mozzarella.

After leaving you last night for my evening of libations and rabble rousing with other drunken strangers, I had an eggplant breakthrough. This recipe acted as a brainstorm session for my real first Italian recipe, which will be *drum roll* gluten free Eggplant lasagna. Instead of noodles, I will use Eggplant. It's going to be a great success. But I'll need to buy more Eggplant and the other necessary ingredients for that so this will have to tide you over until then. And no, I will not apologize for my apparent addiction to roasting food. 425 degrees is where it's at!

As it always seems to go with me, portion sizes are all going to be "to taste" and "however the eff much you want". As far as how much this serves, that depends on how much space you have in your Pyrex dish, how much Eggplant you have, and how much you can put away by yourself. I made enough last night for two people, easy, and I ate it all within 15 minutes. So.

You Will Need:
-1 medium to large Eggplant
-Fresh garlic, whole
-Pasta sauce of your choice. I went with TJ's tomato basil marinara because it's heavenly
-Olive oil
-Mozzarella cheese
-Garlic herb spice mix, or the spice of your choice

1. Preheat the oven to 425.
2. Grease a 9x13 glass baking dish with olive oil, making sure you coat the sides as well.
3. Cut off Eggplant stem.
4. Slice Eggplant lengthwise*, about 1/2 an inch thick. Set aside.
5. Cut Mozzarella into slices about 5/8 of an inch thick. Set aside.
6. Peel garlic and keep cloves whole. You'll want maybe 1/3 to 1/2 of the cloves. Set aside.
7. Place slices of Eggplant in greased baking dish and pour some extra olive oil over the top. I used my fingers to rub it in/get an even coat over the whole slice. You don't need a lot! It's just to help prevent drying.
8. Season the Eggplant with the spice of your choice, to taste.
9. Place some of the whole cloves and all of the Mozzarella on top of the Eggplant slices. Make sure you put some of the cloves directly on the Eggplant. When the cheese melts over it, it's a delightful garlic-y surprise when you take a bite.
10. Pour pasta sauce over all of it, to taste. There's no such thing as too much, but there is such a thing as too little.
11. Throw any leftover garlic cloves into the dish. They'll add aroma and flavor, and roasted garlic has a wonderful texture and taste.
12. Place in the oven for about 20-30 minutes or until the cheese is fully melted but not burnt.
13. Eat!

*You can cut the Eggplant into rounds if you'd prefer, it makes no difference in flavor. If you're serving more people, rounds may make it easier to divvy it up.

The only thing I would do differently is season it with a mixture of garlic herb AND garlic salt. The dish itself isn't very salty so I definitely added salt before eating, and cooking it with garlic salt would eliminate the need. That and you can make it with a mix of cheeses. Parmesan would also add that salty flavor. But other than that, it was wonderful. It was warm and gooey and filling and healthy! The perfect meal. And it's an awesome vegetarian option as Eggplant is actually very meaty in texture, much like a beefy mushroom. My Eggplant lasagna, however, will not be vegetarian. No sir. Anyhow, enjoy!

-LG