#12. The Godfather Part One (and Jeannie's Eggplant Parm!)

#12 on my 30 before 30 list is to watch the Godfather Trilogy, so I took advantage of a lazy Saturday night at home by renting The Godfather Part One and settling in for the 3 hour commitment. I had very few expectations of the film because I honestly didn't know anything about the story other than it was an award winning classic. I found the first 30 minutes or so confusing because the sound quality isn't quite what we have become accustomed to and the "who's who" of the story took some mapping out. But once my dad assured me for the tenth time that "yes, that REALLY IS Al Pacino," I started getting into the story and found myself absolutely loving it! I don't fancy myself a film critic by any means but I enjoyed the time-honored themes of cross-generational responsibility, tradition, and vendetta. The Godfather's simple, straightforward violence screams much louder than the gratuitous gore we see in action movies today. It's fantastically profound.

And what's more appropriate for watching The Godfather than indulging in some great italian food and wine? My friend Jeannie sent me a GREAT recipe for Eggplant Parm and I have been very eager to try it! I even decided to make my own tomato sauce! Here are a few pictures and the recipe that I will DEFINITELY keep in my arsenal for the future:

I started with some tomatoes we had from Costco but if I were to do it again I would chose farmer's market tomatoes or very ripe heirloom tomatoes from the grocery...

An hour or two later and... voila!

Jeannie's Eggplant Parm started out looking something like this (couldn't resist the gorgeous produce pic)...

And an hour or two later... voila! ;). Thanks Jeannie for this awesomeness!

Recipe for Jeannie's Eggplant Parm
Serves 8

Olive oil, for baking sheets
2 large eggs
3/4 cup plain dry breadcrumbs
3/4 cup finely grated Parmesan, plus 2 tablespoons for topping
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
Coarse salt and ground pepper
2 large eggplants (2 1/2 pounds total), peeled and sliced into 1/2-inch rounds
6 cups Chunky Tomato Sauce
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush 2 baking sheets with oil; set aside. In a wide, shallow bowl, whisk together eggs and 2 tablespoons water. In another bowl, combine breadcrumbs, 3/4 cup Parmesan, oregano, and basil; season with salt and pepper.

Dip eggplant slices in egg mixture, letting excess drip off, then dredge in breadcrumb mixture, coating well; place on baking sheets.

Bake until golden brown on bottom, 20 to 25 minutes. Turn slices; continue baking until browned on other side, 20 to 25 minutes more. Remove from oven; raise oven heat to 400 degrees.

Spread 2 cups sauce in a 9-by-13-inch baking dish. Arrange half the eggplant in dish; cover with 2 cups sauce, then 1/2 cup mozzarella. Repeat with remaining eggplant, sauce, and mozzarella; sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons Parmesan. Bake until sauce is bubbling and cheese is melted, 15 to 20 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.