Parmigiana in breadcrumbs

Slice the eggplants lengthwise into 1 cm thick pieces and salt them well. Place them on a sieve and weigh them down with something heavy, like a pot of water. This is necessary to remove the bitterness from the eggplant. Leave them under the weight for half an hour.

Prepare the sauce from tomatoes. Sauté a clove of garlic in a little olive oil over low heat, then add tomato paste, a basil leaf, salt, and pepper. Let the tomato sauce simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Eggplants should be well dried and fried on both sides in vegetable oil or baked in the oven. If frying eggplants in vegetable oil, they should be placed on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb as much frying oil as possible.

Take a rectangular baking dish. Layer one layer of eggplants, then a layer of tomato sauce, and repeat these layers. Top generously with breadcrumbs. Bake the parmigiana in the oven at 180 degrees for 20–30 minutes.