Eggplant Parmigiana - a Step by Step Recipe

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There are some recipes which make your mouth water just by the very mention and some which are considered as "comfort food" which pep you up on a not-so-good day. For me, Olive Garden's "Eggplant Parmagiana" fall into both the categories. This classic Italian-American dish is a lovely way to serve eggplant. The very combination of fried eggplant with tomata sauce, pasta, cheese and basil on the top is too good to resist. It is a scrumptious vegetable dish, perfect for any parties or potlucks.

Instead of baking in a casserole dish, I chose to assemble the fried eggplant individually on a bed of pasta & tomato sauce. Since its just two of us eating dinner most of the times, this works as I don't need to worry about left overs.

But, for a bigger group, to make things simple - in a shallow baking dish, arrange fried eggplant slices with cheese, pasta and tomato sauce as layers to form a stack and bake until cheese bubbles. Top with shredded basil leaves. Yum!

Cheesy Brown Rice Cakes

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What do you do when you are waiting to be attended to at a beauty parlor? my favorite past time is to browse through their cooking magazines..and there are some recipes which you see and instantly fall in love with. Your subconscious mind already sets the plan and all the rest of the body has to do - is follow it ;)...One such recipe is this cheesy rice cake recipe.. which I saw in Rachel Ray magazine (No! I am not a fan of hers).

Cheesy Brown rice Cakes (Adapted from Rachel Ray magazine)

Ingredients:

1 cup brown rice medley (It is a blend of long-grain brown rice, black barley and radish seeds, which I got from my local Trader Joes. this can be substituted with any kind of firm rice. the original recipe used 'arborio rice')
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (original recipe: 1 cup)
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (original recipe: 1 cup)
salt & pepper - to taste
crushed red pepper flakes - as per taste
1/2 cup bread crumbs
olive oil - for shallow frying
1 egg (optional) - I had to omit this as my friend, whom I was serving this was - a staunch vegetarian.

Preparation:

1. Cook rice as per package instruction. Set aside and cool slightly.

2. In a bowl, mix rice, both cheeses and egg (if using). Season with salt, black pepper and crushed red pepper flakes. (Don't let the mixture cool, as it would be hard to make patties then.)

3. Heat some olive oil in a pan. Make patties of desired shape, roll in bread crumbs and shallow fry both sides (turning very carefully) on medium-low heat. Drain on paper towels & serve warm with spinach salad on side.  Yumm-o!!

I am sending rhis as an entry to Superchef's event - Sunday Snacks:Cheese. Enjoy!

Today is the Day One of Nupur's 7-day recipe marathon countdown to New Year. To check what rest of the 25 bloggers are cooking , check the 'Recipe Marathoners' feed on the right-side bar of the blog.

Merry Christmas to all....