So, microwaving it is, though you can prep yours sandwiched between baking sheets oven if you wish In under 10 minutes, I had all the eggplant I needed fully precooked It was just a matter of pressing out excess moisture, and the slices were ready to be breaded and fried As with my chicken Parmesan, seasoned panko bread crumbs are the way to go here When all is said and done, the cross section of your eggplant slices should look something like this: crisp and golden brown, with a dense, meaty, fully cooked interior What’s that? You mean after you’ve done all that, you still have to make sauce, grate cheese, assemble, and bake this sucker? That’s right, young grasshopper: you gotta pay your dues if you wanna sing the blues The sauce and cheese mixture are identical to the one used in Chicken Parmesan (here)—the only difference is in the layering American eggplant Parmesan is generally baked casserole style, like a lasagna, with the fried eggplant taking the place of noodles I see no reason to veer from tradition in that regard FUN FACT: Despite the fact that the dish is called eggplant Parmigiana, it actually has nothing to with Parma, the city in Emilia-Romagna that produces both prosciutto di Parma and Parmigiano-Reggiano Depending on who you ask, the name comes from either ... gotta pay your dues if you wanna sing the blues The sauce and cheese mixture are identical to the one used in Chicken Parmesan (here)? ?the only difference is in the layering American eggplant Parmesan is generally... casserole style, like a lasagna, with the fried eggplant taking the place of noodles I see no reason to veer from tradition in that regard FUN FACT: Despite the fact that the dish is called eggplant Parmigiana,... has nothing to with Parma, the city in Emilia-Romagna that produces both prosciutto di Parma and Parmigiano-Reggiano Depending on who you ask, the name comes from either