———————————MEAT SAUCE——————————— 2 tb Butter or margarine
1 c Onion, chopped
1 1/2 lb Ground chuck or lamb
1 Clove garlic, minced
1 ts Oregano
1 ts Basil or more
3/4 ts Cinnamon
1 ts Salt
1/8 ts Pepper, to taste
16 oz Tomato sauce
2 tb Dry bread crumbs
———————————-EGGPLANT———————————- 2 Eggplants, unpeeled
1/2 c Melted butter or margerine
1/8 ts Salt & pepper
——————————–CREAM SAUCE——————————– 2 tb Butter or margerine
2 tb Flour
MEAT SAUCE Melt butter, saute onion, meat & garlic, stirring until brown. Add herbs & spices and tomato sauce; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer, uncovered, about 30 min. Just before assembling casserole, mix bread crumbs into sauce. EGGPLANT – Halve eggplants lengthwise. Cut each half across into 1/2″ slices. Place slices in bottom of broiler pan. Sprinkle with salt & pepper and brush with butter. Broil 4 inches from heat four minute on each side. CREAM SAUCE -Melt butter & stir in flour, salt & pepper. Add millk gradually. Bring to a boil, stirring until thick. Remove from heat. Beat a small amount of cream mixture into eggs. Blend egg mixture into remaining sauce. Mix well and set aside. TO ASSEMBLE – In a 2 qt. shallow baking dish, layer half of the eggplant, overlapping slightly. Sprinkle w/2 tb of the combined cheeses. Pour meat sauce of eggplant. Sprinkle w/2 more tb of cheese. Layer remaining eggplant over top. Pour cream sauce over all. Sprinkle w/remaining cheeses. Bake @350 until brown and top is set, approx. 35-40 min. This sounds more complicated than it is, and makes a great party dish, as it is very “forgiving” – eggplant haters won’t even know what they’re eating!