Grilled Eggplant Parmesan Stacks

Ingredients:

2 eggplants
olive oil
Salt
Pepper
1 large fresh mozzarella ball, torn into pieces
grated parmesan cheese
marinara sauce

Slice eggplant into ¹⁄₄ inch thick slices.  Layer the slices in a colander, sprinkling salt on each layer.  Set aside for ¹⁄₂ an hour.  Rinse, drain and then pat the eggplant dry.  Preheat your gas or charcoal BBQ grill on high.  Drizzle the eggplant with olive oil, salt and pepper and place on the grill.  Grill for a few minutes, until the eggplant has some grill marks.  Flip and grill for a few minutes on the other side.  Remove from the grill. (In lieu of a BBQ the broiler in the oven works just fine - place the eggplants on a cookie sheet, broil for a few minutes until beginning to brown, flip and broil for a few minutes on the opposite side.)

Preheat oven to 450° F.  In a shallow baking dish make 4-6 stacks (depends on size of eggplants and how big you want your stacks) of eggplant.  Stack 2 eggplant slices, layer on a few pieces of mozzarella, sprinkle of parmesan and repeat.  2 eggplants, mozzarella and parmesan. Pour marinara (more or less depending on how much sauce you like) over the stacks, layer the top with mozzarella and parmesan and bake for about 30 minutes or until the cheese is bubbling and brown.

To serve place each stack on a plate, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with parmesan.

Serves 4-6

*This easily made in casserole style by layering sauce, eggplant and cheese in a 9x13 inch baking dish.