By Request- Eggplant Parm

This past weekend, we hosted some of our nearest and dearest friends who we've walked with since our pre-dating days...such amazing memories with this group of friends and it was so refreshing to my soul to get to spend some time with them. All in all, we fed 8 adults and 4 babies between the ages of 12-18 months- and my leftover Eggplant Parmesan kind of snuck in and stole the show for best recipe of the weekend.

So, by request of a few of my favorite mama's, I thought I would post the recipe.

I did not actually find this one on pinterest, but I'm sure it's there somewhere. I came across this recipe while flipping through my most recent Real Simple Magazine. I haven't ever made eggplant before but have always liked it at restaurants and thought a meatless dish might be good for our highly carnivorous family :)

Here's the basics:
Ingredients:

• 2 medium eggplants (cut into 1/4-inch slices)
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 3 cups marinara sauce
• 12 ounces fresh mozzarella, sliced
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan (about 2 ounces)
• 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
• 
  

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400° F. On 2 rimmed baking sheets, brush the eggplants with ¼ cup of the oil; season with ¼ teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Bake until tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
2. Spread 1 cup of the marinara in the bottom of an 8-inch baking dish. Top with half the eggplant, half the mozzarella, and half the Parmesan. Repeat, ending with the last cup of marinara. Top with the bread crumbs.
3. Bake until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling, 30 to 35 minutes.

Here's a link to the recipe on the Real Simple website. They served it with a mixed greens salad (as did I, just not this one).
http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/eggplant-parmesan-00100000106384/index.html

This was delicious, even though it was not really on the healthy side considering the abundance of cheese...but who doesn't love cheese??!!!