Ingredients:
- 2 tsp. butter
- 1 lg. onion, diced
- 2 bell peppers, diced
- 1 lg. carrot, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, very finely minced
- 3 Tbsp. tomato paste
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- 28 oz. can stewed Italian tomatoes
- 1 Tbsp. honey
- 2 cups panko crumbs
- 1 tsp. dried oregano
- Salt and pepper to taste
- ½ cup milk
- 2 lg. eggplants, cut into 3/4-inch rounds
- 2 cups shredded parmesan or mozzarella cheese
- 1 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 10 thin slices fresh mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup fresh basil leaves
Directions:
- Heat the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft.
- Add bell peppers, carrot and garlic and cook until the vegetables are soft.
- Add the tomato paste and oregano to the pot and let it cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add the stewed tomatoes and the honey to the pot; reduce the heat, cover and let it simmer for 15 minutes. Turn heat off under pot and leave covered.
- While the sauce is cooking, prepare the eggplants.
- Preheat your oven to 375 F.
- In a medium-sized bowl, mix the panko, oregano, salt and pepper. Pour the milk into another separate bowl.
- Dip each eggplant round first into the milk, and then into the panko. Using one hand for the milk and the other for the panko will make this a lot less messy.
- Place the panko coated eggplant rounds onto a baking sheet. Bake the eggplant in the oven for 20-25 minutes.
- Spread a couple of small scoops of the tomato sauce in the bottom of a 9-by-11-inch baking dish sprayed with non-stick coating. Loosely lay baked eggplant rounds over the sauce and then cover with half of the shredded cheese. Do a second layer and top with sauce and remaining shredded cheeses. Finish assembling the casserole with the remaining eggplant rounds and sauce.
- Top each eggplant with mozzarella slice. Bake in the oven for 40 minutes, or until it is hot and bubbling.
- Remove from the oven, top with fresh basil leaves, cover and rest for 10 minutes before serving.
