Melanzana Ripieni

I`m still trying to make my way through my links list and haven`t gotten very far yet.
Yesterday was the first official day of spring and the snow is still melting. Yahoo!
I pulled this old chair from the bedroom to add in the livingroom. It`s pink but will eventually get re-covered. Isobell likes it......

The other night I made some country style mixed grain bread........

And tried out a new recipe called Melanzana Ripieni......

It was quite good. Elvis agreed.....

Melanzana Ripieni for Two

1 firm eggplant
1/4 lb. or more of Mozzarella, sliced
1 small onion, finely sliced
Basil leaves
1 clove garlic, crushed
6 tbs. Parmigiano
1/4 cup olive oil
Flour
1 Ripe tomato
1/2 cup marinara sauce
Salt
Pepper
1 pinch of sugar
(for more zip, add 1/3 jalapino pepper and handful of olives chopped)

Wash the eggplant. Remove the stem, and cut length-wise into slices not thicker than 1/4-in. Place the slices on a large platter, slightly on an angle. Sprinkle it with salt, place a weight on top, and let stand for about one hour.
In the meantime, brown the onion and the garlic and pepper in oil over a very low flame, and then add the tomatoes, olives and sauce and let simmer for about 1/2 hour, stirring frequently. When this is done, pass through a sieve and add a pinch of salt.

Cut the Mozzarella into very thin slices and let them dry on a cloth. Chop the basil and mix it with Parmigiano.

Wash the salt off the eggplant and dry it. Dredge in flour and fry in very hot oil. Turn them to brown and when both side are done, lift them out and drain on a paper towel.

Pre-heat the oven to 375ºF. Coat a deep baking dish with olive oil and put in a layer of eggplant. Sprinkle with Parmigiano, pour on a layer of tomato sauce, and cover with slices of Mozzarella. Repeat this layering until all the ingredients have been used, and then cover with tomato sauce, sprinkle with more grated Parmigiano and bake for about 30 mins.