So what to do with eggplant? I learned how to cook some wonderful egg plant parm from my college teammate Chris Acerno from Manhasset, Long Island. At the time, Herkimer County Community College had no dorms thus we all lived in apartments and cooked for ourselves. I’d visit Chris and find him making Italian gravy from scratch. He’d sauté crushed garlic in imported extra virgin olive oil, a dash of salt and freshly ground black pepper, oregano, and sage. Then he would add a can of imported crushed tomatoes—that how I still make my sauce today. Chris made excellent egg plant parm dipping thinly sliced egg plant in an egg batter. He’d then run it through imported Italian bread crumbs and then sauté the breaded egg plant in virgin olive oil and crushed garlic. When they were golden brown he’d take them out the skillet and put them on a plate. Next he’d carefully sprinkle graded Parmigiana cheese on them like an artist and let them cool off a bit. Chris would serve up the crispy egg plant with his home made gravy over them and a side of pasta. That Italian could cook!
