Eggplant Parmigiana

This was cooked by my wife as it's a favourite of my dad's.  My god it is yummy! Me an person who hates eggplant can't eat enough of this stuff.   In picture is some Fettuccine with parsley and olive oil, a chicken cutlet and the eggplant parm with some sauce on the side.

Reference for Parmigiana:  wikipedia entry, commonly found in Italian restaurants and amongst the wife's favorite Italian  dishes. 

Ingredients:

 1 big Italian eggplant

Mozzarella cheese

Parmesan cheese

Garlic

Jalapeno peppers

Onion

Parsley

Crushed tomato

Vodka

Heavy cream

All-purpose flour

Eggs

Italian breadcrumbs

Olive oil

Cut the eggplant into quarter inch thick slices, sprinkle salt and pepper and let it rest for a couple of hours, so the the excess water comes off.  Set up three dishes with all-purpose-flour + salt + pepper, beaten egg +salt + pepper and Italian breadcrumbs + Parmesan cheese powder in sequence.  Flour the eggplant slices followed by egg wash and breadcrumbs and shallow-fry in a pan containing moderately hot olive oil.  Repeat the process with all the slices.

Vodka sauce: This is not a typical marinara sauce which seems to accompany a lot of eggplant Parmesan dishes.

Mince or finely chop 4 large cloves of garlic (can use less as per liking) and 1 jalapeno pepper (can remove seeds to reduce heat).  Saute in olive oil for a half to one minute.  Do not let the gralic turn brown, else the flavor will be too strong.  Add one big finely chopped onion and saute for 15-20 minutes till the onion turns light to medium brown.  Follow this with one cup of crushed tomatoes and saute for another 15-20 minutes till the tomatoes lose their raw taste.  To this, add a cup of vodka and stir for a couple of minutes till most of the alcohol evaporates followed by 2/3rd cup of heavy cream.  Season the sauce with salt/pepper and parsley according to taste.

Assembling the dish: I personally do not like to smother my eggplant in too much sauce so the whole thing become a mess.  Instead, I assembled it as a sandwich.  On a slice of eggplant, smear some sauce and a mixture of grated mozzarella and powdered Parmesan cheese and top with another slice of eggplant.  Make a stack of three eggplant slices and top with some more cheese.  Bake the eggplant "sandwiches" in the oven at 400C for 5-7 minutes or broil. Garnish with parsley!