I love eggplant*. I really love eggplant parm. I don't order it out much as most places do not peel the eggplant, and I simply cannot digest eggplant skins (or apple skins, etc.).
I made a pan of it this weekend.
Now I do not go through the hassle of salting sliced eggplant; too much extra work. What I do is peel and slice the eggplant. I dust the slices in seasoned flour. Then coat it with beaten eggs. Then into another tray with seasoned panko bread crumbs, along with some of the seasoned flour (80-20 mix?) The frying is a pain in the ass, quite messy, but so worth the result.
I made a simple sauce: tomato paste and sauce, garlic, onion, sweet red pepper, black pepper, red chili flakes, bay leaf, worchestershire, packet of sugar (I don't use much sugar so I buy packets), celery seed and dried basil-thyme-oregano. Cooked it for about four hours, until thick and darkened.
Stacked the eggplant slices in a pan, starting with sauce, eggplant, mozzarella and parmigginao, and continuing for a few layers. Filling as all get out. Had some garlic bread and an Argentinian Malbec.
Today is the second half. (I just pulled off the foil and added more sauce and cheese.) I also have some cooked eggplant slices for another day.
* When I was a child, I was a very picky eater. And by picky, I mean I only ate peanut butter and apple jelly sandwiches for the first 7 or so years of my life. (My Mom was worried and took me to the Navy dispensary, and a doctor told her peanut butter has protein, so I was good to go.) When I was around 8 or so, I spent a week with my Grandma. Like I said, veggies weren't my thing. But Grandma would peel and slice an eggplant, flour it and fry it. I loved it! When my Mom found out I ate Grandma's eggplant, she figured she's make it at home, just to get me to eat something besides peanut butter. But being the picky eater I was, I told her, "It's not Grandma's!" My Mom asked her Mom what she was doing wrong, and could never figure it out; neither could I. Wood burning stove and heat? I still don't know.
But there is nothing like eggplant parm. I'll have eggplant parm over a steak any day of the week. And twice on Sunday!