TRASHY GOURMET

Vegan Dumpster Eggplant sans Parmigiana

ingredients:

• 1 eggplant
• 1/4 cup flour
• water or broth
• breadcrumbs
• favorite marinara sauce (recipe later)
• cooked spaghetti or angel hair pasta
• s&p
• basil and/or oregano

First things first: for delicious tender, non-bitter eggplant you must properly prepare it. Slice eggplant into 3/4″ rounds and arrange on a plate or cookie sheet. Cover liberally with salt. Let sit for an hour (or two or five), draining liquid periodically. Flip, salt, and let rest again. You can probably just coat both sides with salt, cover, and let sit overnight though I haven’t tried this.

Ok, the eggplant’s almost ready. Put the slices in a colander, rinse thoroughly, and let dry while you prepare the batter. Put the flour in a bowl and slowly stir in water with a fork or whisk until you get a thick pancake-like batter. Then add s&p and herbs or spices du jour. Spread your breadcrumbs on a plate. I used some hot and spicy commercial variety my mom gave me. Heat some olive oil or what have you in a pan.

Dip eggplant slices in batter, let excess drip off, and coat with breadcrumbs. Fry! God, I love fried food. Have you ever eaten so much greasy fried food that you get psychosomatic chest pains? At least I hope they’re just psychosomatic. Get both sides nice and golden brown.

Serve delicious, crispy-yet-melt-in-your-mouthy eggplant atop pasta and marinara.