Sometimes, when I’m in the grocery store, produce just speaks to me. On this last trip, eggplants screamed for me to take them home (well, seemed like they were screaming).

While I love breading and flying eggplant for eggplant Parmesan, I wanted this version to be less indulgent and lighter so I grilled sliced eggplant and made individual servings.

This technique of making single servings guarantees we won’t overeat, well, unless we decide to have a couple of servings.

The use of my Basil-Packed Marinara Sauce keeps this dish fresh and is a good use of basil and tomatoes as crops are plentiful.

Ingredients:

• 1 large, medium girth eggplant, sliced in 8 thin disks
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• ½ tsp. each salt, pepper
• 3 cups Basil-Packed Marinara Sauce (could use store-bought)
• ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 cup grated Mozzarella cheese   

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Lightly oil each side of the eggplant disks then salt and pepper them. Heat a grill to medium-high heat and grill the eggplant disks for 3 minutes on each side. Alternatively, use a grill pan to cook the eggplant.
3. Place 4 ramekins on a baking sheet. Add a tablespoon of marinara sauce to each ramekin and top with a grilled eggplant disk. Top each eggplant disk with ½ teaspoon Parmesan and 1 teaspoon Mozzarella. Add a tablespoon of marinara, another eggplant disk and top with the remaining cheeses.
4. Cook the eggplant Parmesans for 10 minutes, turn the broiler to high and cook an additional 4 minutes or until the cheesy tops have browned.
5. Serve as a starter or as a side dish alongside grilled Italian sausages with the remaining marinara sauce.

Makes 4 side dishes.