2011, Recipe 77: Baked Eggplant with Tomato-Mushroom Sauce

Recipe from Grouprecipes.com

• 1 1/4 lbs eggplant, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices 
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 large sweet onion, chopped
• 1 zucchini, sliced thinly
• 1 medium red pepper, diced
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp red pepper flakes
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 8 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced thinly
• 1/4 tsp black pepper, divided
• 1 cup crushed tomatoes, divided
• 1 oz shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup grated low-fat Parmesan
• 1/4 cup dry whole-wheat breadcrumbs

1. Heat a non-stick grill pan (or broiler).
2. Salt and pepper eggplant slices lightly.
3. Grill or broil the eggplant 3 minutes on each side, until brown.
4. Preheat oven to 375°F.
5. Heat water in a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray over medium heat.
6. Add onion through mushrooms.
7. Cover and cook 7 minutes or until tender, stirring mixture occasionally.
8. Increase heat to medium-high. Uncover pan, and cook for 2 - 3 minutes or until most of the liquid evaporates.
9. Spread half of pan mixture in bottom of a deep baking dish coated with cooking spray.
10. Arrange half of eggplant slices over mushroom mixture.
11. Top with half the pepper, half the tomatoes and all the mozzarella.
12. Spread remaining mushroom mixture over cheese.
13. Top with remaining eggplant, pepper and tomatoes.
14. Sprinkle with Parmesan and breadcrumbs.
15. Cover dish, and bake 1 hour.
16. Remove cover, and return to oven for 5 minutes.
17. Let stand 10 minutes, then serve

Results: Partway through I was already annoyed with how long this doggone recipe took.  It was unnecessarily labor intensive.  That said, it was very delicious.  I made a similar recipe that was better.  It was the feta and fresh basil that was fantastic in the other recipe.  Also... I would've been happier with this as a side dish.