A curious way to bake eggplants without frying

With this recipe we want to share with you how to prepare a delicious eggplant without frying it. The eggplant in fact - also known as aubergine - can be succulent even if not cooked in oil: you will taste a dish which is much less hard to digest. In addition it is a perfect food if you are following a vegetarian diet.

Ingredients

The preparation of the eggplant requires the following ingredients:

• 1 eggplant;
• 2 eggs;
• flour;
• bread crumbs;
• lemon;
• oil (extra virgin olive oil as usual, if possible!);
• basil;
• salt.

Preparation

Take a soup plate and cover the bottom with the flour. In another soup plate prepare the bread crumbs as you did with the flour. In a third plate put two beaten eggs and add a pinch of salt.

Wash and cut the eggplant into slices, one centimeter wide. Take each slice and lay it in the dish previously covered with the flour. This step is fundamental to maintain a good breadcrumb coating. Lastly dip them in beaten eggs and then in the bread crumbs. Thus, thanks to the beaten eggs, the bread crumbs will stick perfectly to the surface of the eggplant.

Now cover the baking tray with some baking paper and lay on it the eggplant slices, previously prepared. Turn the oven to 180 degrees and place the baking tray in the oven. Wait until the slices assume a nice golden color (do not overcook them, anyway), then turn the oven off and remove the slices.

The slices now are a little bit dry; in order to soften them up I suggest to make a quick top dressing. To do that, take a small pot and combine inside of it a half glass of water, a little oil, salt, lemon juice and the chopped basil. Emulsify everything with a fork or a tablespoon and pour that mixture over the eggplant slices.