Eggplant Parmesan

Eggplant parmesan was never a favorite of mine because I always had it smothered in sauce and cheese which made the eggplant turn soggy. This recipe uses Daiya mozzarella cheese and the eggplant ends up turning nice and crisp!

INGREDIENTS
2 eggplants, cut crosswise into 1/4 inch rounds
sea salt
1 cup soymilk (or other non-dairy milk)
2 tablespoons of cornstarch
1/4 cup chickpea flour
3/4 cup flour
freshly ground black pepper
2 cups (or more depending how much you like) italian-seasoned breadcrumbs
2 jars of your favorite pasta sauce
1/2 a bag of Daiya Mozzarella Cheese
fresh basil leaves, chiffonade cut for garnish

METHOD
1. Sprinkle the eggplant slices with sea salt and let sit in a colander for 30-45 minutes allowing the excess water to drain.

2. Transfer the eggplant to a clean kitchen towel and lay flat. Using another clean kitchen towel, lay on top of the eggplant slices and press down to release anymore excess liquid from the vegetable.

3. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

4. Using 3 pie pans (or big bowls) start putting together your flour mixture, "egg" mixture, and breadcrumbs. In the first plate, combine the flour and black pepper to taste. In the second combine the soymilk, cornstarch, and chickpea flour by mixing with a whisk. Put the breadcrumbs in the third plate.

5. Spray a baking pan with cooking spray. Next, coat each eggplant slice in the flour, then the "egg" mixture, and then in the breadcrumbs. Transfer to the baking pan and lay each slice flat so that they are not on top of each other.

6. Bake for 30 minutes, and flip the slices 15 minutes into baking.

7. In the meantime, coat the bottom of a glass baking dish with a 1/4 inch of pasta sauce. When eggplants are done baking, transfer them to the glass dish by layering and overlapping the slices to fit.

8. Cover with desired amount of sauce and sprinkle on the Daiya cheese. Cover with tin foil and let it bake for 30 minutes.

9. When the dish is done baking, take out of the oven and let it cool for about 7-10 minutes. While the eggplant is cooling, chiffonade your basil by taking the leaves and then rolling them away from you as tight as you can. Keep rolling until you reach the opposite end of the leaves and you have a tight little package. With one hand holding the rolled leaves tightly, start slicing as finely as you can until you have nice little ribbons. Sprinkle the basil on top of your dish.