Chicken and eggplant are just awesome together, so I'm always experimenting with new combinations. This time around I decided to fry eggplant slices and then top them with a very meaty Bolognese. Okay! Let's splurge with some thick slices of breaded and fried eggplant!!!
- 1.5 lbs ground chicken - white meat
- 1 28 oz can plum shaped tomatoes in puree
- olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 yellow onion, cut up
- 1/2 tsp salt
- fresh ground black pepper to taste (I like about 6 twists on the grinder)
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- dash of oregano
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 lge eggplant
- avocado or vegetable oil
- flavored breadcrumbs
Add a bit of olive oil to your sauce pot and sautee the chopped garlic. As the garlic JUST gets brown dd in the cut up onion and sautee til slightly translucent and shiny.
Place canned tomatoes in a bowl and cut into quarters or bite-size pieces... Not too small as they will cook down some in the pot. Add tomatoes and puree to sauce pot and stir. Add in salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano and dried parsley. Bring to a boil and then simmer on low for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Finally stir in the fried chop meat. The mixture will seem very meaty and not at all liquid.... that's intentional as our base for the sauce is very different from pasta.
As for the eggplant, peel and cut into thick slices, about 3/8". Coat in egg and your favorite flavored breadcrumbs and fry in avocado or vegetable oil until golden brown. Set on paper towel to soak up excess oil - you want them nice and crispy to add an extra level to the party in your mouth ;-)
Lay the slices out on the plate and top with Bolognese just before serving to retain most of the crunch.... and enjoy!
Adding a green vegetable of your choosing will round out this dish nicely.