Eggplant Parmesan

Eggplant Parmesan is one of those dishes that looks as if someone already ate it but still tastes unbelievably dissimilar to vomit. Personally, I think the sloppiness adds to the deliciousness. Even though I think Joe's Inn has some of the best egg. parm. around, I wanted to give it a go at home to see if we couldn't beat Stella at her own game. Unfortunately, we didn't start as early as we should have to rub the eggplant slices with salt to enhance crispiness potential, so going into it we understood that there was to be an element of unavoidable sogginess. Not deterred, we forged ahead with some farmer's market Parmesan Reggiano, slices of red pepper, 1/4 sliced eggplant slices, and mushroom sauce with more parmesan, crushed red pepper, oregano, basil, and black pepper. Using 2 eggs and some bread crumbs, we fried the eggplant slices in oil before baking it all together in a square pan for 35 minutes at 350 degrees. What came out was hot, bubbling, spicier than expected, and friggin' delicious. I think Stella has us beat (for now) but another try at this and we'll put them out of business.