These are Japanese eggplant, as we call them in America anyway, I like them more than the traditional eggplant. They seem milder and not as bitter to me.

First I wash with soap and water, or veggie wash (sometimes I cook for someone immunocomprmised) then slice each into 4 or 6 pieces lengthwise.

At this point you can fry them or bake at about 350 for 20-30 min. I had the time to fry, then I let them rest on a wire rack, hit with a little himalayan salt, and let cool a bit.

I’m a big fan of the fresh mozzarella, I take this and cube a few pieces.

Using a piece of basil and fresh mozzarella, I roll it up and place in a dish that has some marinara at the bottom.

I line those around the outside, and in the middle, I just do a lasagna-esque layering with the smaller pieces. For two reasons, this takes forever, and I wanted to see how it would turn out!

At the end, I pack on the mozzarella since it will get all melty and amazing later.

Then for some fresh parmigiana. At this point, I would bake at 400, uncovered, just long enough to melt the cheese.

But I did this the night prior and left it in the fridge.

See my other post for instruction on the marinara. I served this two days after the spaghetti squash and used the left overs as the ‘pasta’ part of this dish.

YUM!

I used: 

4 Japanese eggplants

Approx 8 oz fresh mozzarella

1/4 cup grated parm

Fresh basil

Marinara or meat sauce

Salt, pepper, oil to fry or drizzle before baking