An Italian Feast!

I had been craving sauce and meatballs for a few weeks so I decided to make fresh "gravy" and meatballs one Sunday afternoon and a nice dish of eggplant parmesan (my all-time favorite food). I have been cooking with my Dad since I was younger so the meatballs and gravy recipes are what I have learned from him. The eggplant parm comes from my mama - she makes the best eggplant ever.
So a good sauce starts with some fresh chopped garlic and olive oil. I also added some chopped shallot to the pan for a little extra flavor. Once the garlic and shallot had browned a bit in the pan, I added some diced tomatoes flavored with oregano and basil. Next I added a can of Tomato paste and a large can of tomato sauce (usually I use the Cento brand). I also add a small amount of water to the pot as well. Next comes the seasoning. I added fresh rosemary and basil, along with fresh cracked pepper and a small amount of salt. Then comes some granulated sugar. I don't really measure amounts, I just sort of throw it all together and taste it occasionally to see what I need to add. The last ingredient to a good gravy is a can of beer. I used miller lite, but you can go with any beer really, light beer is preferable. You could even add some red wine, who doesn't love a good merlot??
Now time for the meatballs. For these meatballs I used ground turkey in an effort to be a bit more healthy. I will say though - you can't beat meatballs with ground beef, the flavor is unbeatable. I mixed up the ground turkey with an egg, breadcrumbs, fresh cracked pepper, salt, fresh chopped garlic, fresh basil, grated parmesan cheese, and some italian seasoning. Again, I don't really measure anything out, I just mix it and then smell it to see if it smells seasoned enough (my Dad taught me that, I was always the "smeller" to make sure the meatballs smelled good). I think the more garlic, the better, can you really ever use too much garlic? As long as you don't plan on making out after, I really don't think you can have too much garlic. Once I had all the meatballs rolled onto a plate covered in paper towels, I put them in the microwave for about 3 minutes so they would cook mostly. Then I dumped them into the pot of gravy and let it simmer for hours. The longer it simmers the better!


Now onto the eggplant parmigiano - yum! First i sliced and peeled the eggplant - no skin is best. Then I dipped each slice of eggplant into beaten egg and milk, then dipped it straight into the breadcrumbs which were seasoned with pepper, salt, garlic, basil, italian seasoning and parmesan cheese. Then I fried each piece of eggplant in olive oil and transferred it into a casserole pan that had a layer of sauce in it. The eggplant was then covered in another layer of sauce and then a layer of shredded mozzarella cheese. This was repeated until the pant was full, usually ends up being 2-3 layers of eggplant. Then I baked it in the oven for about 20 minutes, until the cheese its melted golden brown. Mmm and the first bite - just magical. There is nothing better than the crispy eggplant with the tartness of the sauce and creamy melty cheese.