How to make Eggplant Meat Casserole

I just want to share that this eggplant meat casserole was my very first company meal as a young bride. It’s a must-try recipe!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb. ground beef round
• 6 Italian mild pork sausages – removed from casing
• 2 eggplants – large, peeled and sliced thin
• 1/2 cup chopped yellow or orange pepper     
• 2 cups tomato puree
• 2 eggs – beaten
• 3 tbsp. butter
• 1/2 – 3/4 lb. mozzarella
• 3 onions chopped
• 1 clove garlic – crushed
• 1/2 tsp basil
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 2/3 – 1 cup vegetable oil
• 1 tsp salt
• pinch of freshly ground black pepper

METHOD:

1. In a skillet, sauté the beef in butter. Add onions and cook until golden. Then add the tomato puree, basil, oregano, yellow or orange pepper, salt, garlic and pepper. Remove from heat.
2. In another skillet, sauté the sausage meat until browned.
3. Peel and slice the eggplant in thin cuts. Dip the slices into the eggs and sauce them in hot oil until both sides are golden brown. Drain on paper towel.
4. Arrange 1/3 of the meat sauce from step 1 and 1/3 of the mozzarella. Then top with 1/3 of the sausage meat. Repeat until all is used ending with mozzarella on top. Bake at 350°F (180°C ) for approximately one hour.
5. You made it! Have a lot of tasty bites with this eggplant casserole. 

Note: If you prefer, you can brown the sausage links wholly and then slice and add over the mozzarella as you would the sausage meat.

My Short Story with This Recipe as a Young Bride

We married in June and immediately after returning from our Bermuda honeymoon, we moved to Maryland. For a young girl born and raised in the heart of New York City, it was traumatizing and a real eye-opener. I felt like I was in the deep south! This was my very first attempt, as a young bride, at cooking for a company when we lived in Maryland, and this eggplant recipe always made a hit, so I stuck with it. It’s still a favorite so many years later.

Just add some crusty Italian bread and a salad.

Buon Mangiata!