CHEESY BAKED EGGPLANT

CHEESY BAKED EGGPLANT
1 eggplant, about 1 1/4 pounds before trimming
Nonstick cooking spray
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded *

Breading mixture:
3/4 cup almond flour, 3 ounces
3/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, 3 ounces
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 eggs

For the breading, combine all of the dry ingredients in a pie pan. Break the eggs into a cereal bowl and beat well with a fork. Position your oven rack in the center position. Preheat the broiler to 500?

Cut the eggplant into twelve slices of even thickness. Dip each piece of eggplant in egg to coat on both sides, then lightly coat them with parmesan-almond mixture. Arrange the eggplant slices on a foil-lined baking sheet in a single layer. Spray the eggplant liberally with cooking spray. Broil about 3 minutes until golden brown; turn over, spray again with cooking spray and broil the other side. Watch it closely so it doesn't burn.

Spray an 8x8" baking pan with cooking spray. Arrange a layer of eggplant over the bottom of the pan, cutting them to fill the gaps. Sprinkle half of the shredded cheese over the eggplant. Repeat layering eggplant and cheese. Bake at 350?about 20-30 minutes until the cheese is bubbly and golden brown on top. Cut into squares and serve with tomato sauce, if desired.

Makes 4 servings

* I used a pre-shredded Italian blend of mozzarella, provolone, romano, asiago and fontina cheeses.

Per Serving: 465 Calories; 34g Fat; 30g Protein; 13g Carbohydrate; 6g Dietary Fiber; 7g Net Carbs

This is a bit like eggplant parmesan but without the tomato sauce. I've made this with cheddar cheese and it was also very good. You can make a double recipe in a 9x13" baking dish for 8 servings. The eggplant part of the recipe is the same as my Fried Eggplant but I used my friend, Nancy's, broiling method. It comes out very crispy when broiled and there is no greasy mess all over your stove. Watch it closely when broiling as it browns very quickly once it gets going. Click the photo to see a close-up.

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