مسقعة الباذنجان - Musakaa

Mussaka is a popular dish in the Mediterranean countries. I have listed a basic vegetarian version of this recipe here although there are different variations such as adding cooked ground beef or lamb, or mix cooked chickpeas, add green peppers, garlic or hot spicy peppers, depending on what you like in your dish. Ingredients:- 2 big eggplants sliced into ½ inch thickness- I do not peel mine, I leave them with the skin on.-Canola oil for frying -1 to 2 medium diced onion- 4 medium size fresh or canned diced tomatoes- Small can of tomato paste- Salt and black pepper to taste-1/2 to 1 cup waterDirections:-Slice eggplants into 1 cm (1/2 inch) thick slices

-Sprinkle the eggplants slices with salt to draw the moisture out-Deep fry in canola oil until golden brown in color.-Remove from pan, drain from oil over paper towels.
-Sauté the diced onions, I microwave it sometimes until golden brown color- I use a Pyrex baking dish
-Add tomato paste, water, salt and pepper and mix with the onions. This will be your sauce
-Layer the fried eggplants in the baking dish over the sauce
-Top with diced or sliced tomato- Cover the baking pan with plastic wrap, I double the cover
-Microwave the pan for at least 20 minutes
-Broil the top for a desired baked colorif you want to use the conventional way of cooking, you may do this:
In a separate pot, sauté diced onions. Add tomato paste, water, salt and pepper. This will be your sauce that you will add to the layered eggplant in the baking pan. Boil the sauce for about five minutes. It will continue cooking when you bake it with the eggplants.Pour the sauce mixture over the layered eggplants in the baking dish and spread evenly. Top with diced or sliced tomato.Cover with aluminum foil and bake for about 45 minutes in a 350-400 Fahrenheit degree oven (depending on your oven temperature) until the edges are turning brown and the tomato sauce looks and smells cooked!
Remove the foil the last 5-10 minutes to brown the top.Serve hot or at room temperature with white rice on the side.