This is one of my better creations of late. Really, REALLY good! It is pictured here: http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2011/0...baked-al-pesto/

We had pork chops for dinner tonight and I wanted something nice to have with them besides the fresh steamed broccoli I was planning. I grabbed a Japanese eggplant that had my jar of freshly made pesto sauce ad thawed spaghetti sauce for tomorrow night sitting beside it. And this delightful dish emerged in my head! I wasn’t sure how the pesto would be and whether I would like it, because fresh basil often doesn’t agree with my stomach. But I’m here to tell you this was one of the very best eggplant dishes I’ve done in a LONG time! I used just a hint of the pesto sauce. This recipe is suitable for Induction.

This serves 4, but with the addition of a layer of pre-browned ground beef or ground Italian Sausage, this would make a delightful entree. As an entree, it would probably only serve two adults, however.

NOTE: Most of the oil you saute the eggplant in will bleed out onto the bottom of the pan. Just don’t know how to avoid that really. Since it wasn’t consumed, if you measure it, you could probably lower the fat and calories for that amount of oil divided by the number of servings, of course. For this dish, about 2T. oil bled out. But I didn’t bother to deduct that from my calculations below.

INGREDIENTS:

8 oz. eggplant, peeled, sliced ¼” thick, cut into pieces about 1″ in size
3 T. olive oil
1 T. my pesto sauce: http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2011/06/09/pesto-sauce/
½ c. my spaghetti sauce (or your favorite): http://buttoni.wordpress.com/2009/0...paghetti-sauce/
1 T. Parmesan cheese, grated
1/3 c. mozzarella cheese, grated

DIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 350º. Heat oil in non-stick skillet and saute the eggplant, turning often with a spoon, until it is completely translucent (will be nearly done at this point). Place in a small casserole-type baking dish (no need to grease the pan). Dot evenly with the spaghetti sauce. Then dot evenly with the pesto. Sprinkle on the Parmesan and finally spread the mozzarella evenly on top. Pop into a 350º oven for about 30 minutes. Most of the oil you sauteed the eggplant in will bleed out onto the bottom of the pan. Just don’t know how to avoid that really. If you measured it, you could probably lower the fat and calories for this dish by that amount divided by the number of servings, of course. I didn’t bother to do that in my calculations below, however.

NUTRITIONAL INFO: As a vegetable dish, this serves 4, each serving provides: (will only serve 2 as an entree)

214.5 calories
18.5 g fat
6.3 g carbs, 2.63 g fiber, 3.67 g NET CARBS
7.08 g protein
71 mg sodium
141 mg potassium