Cabernet Marinara

This versatile dish should be a staple in your repertoire.

I am pulling out all the stops here and showing you the whole shebang. That way you can make adjustments to any of the details you'd like. For example, you could omit the chicken and have a wonderful vegetarian version or use the breading technique for fish.  

Step One: Breadcrumbs and weeping eggplant

Here's what you'll need:

I used Japanese eggplant, but really any aubergine will work here. I also used whole wheat bread ends to make the breadcrumbs. It's cheaper than store bought and no one eats those ends anyway.

Let's make the breadcrumbs. Tear 2 - 3 slices of bread into pieces and add to blender with basil leaves and 1/4 cu Parmesan cheese.

Blend until it looks like this...

... and smells like Parmesan basil heaven. Trust me, you'll never buy store bought again.

Weeping eggplant pulls out the eggplant's excess moisture, allowing it to become crispy in the oven. It's simple to do. Just slice your eggplant (leave the skin on to reap it's many nutrition benefits), set on a drying rack (over a towel or cutting board to catch the moisture and excess salt), and sprinkle with salt. Allow to sit for 30 minutes until it goes from this...

to this:

 See the tears? It should also be softer and easy to bend. Lightly rinse the eggplant before breading.

Step Two: Breading Station

Once your eggplant has wept. It's time to bread and bake! Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. Line two baking sheets with aluminum foil and place in oven to preheat. Starting with a hot sheet pan will allow your chicken and eggplant to get crispier!

Your assembly station should include a container with two lightly beaten eggs, another container with the breadcrumbs, and of course the chicken and eggplant. Notice that we did not season the breadcrumbs. The salt in the Parmesan will suffice, but if you simply must, season the chicken and eggplant itself, not the breadcrumbs. Seasonings on the inside add flavor; seasonings on the outside burn.  

Dip each piece in the egg mixture and then coat with breadcrumbs. 

Place into the oven and bake for 20 - 30 minutes until chicken is firm and reaches 165 degrees in the thickest point . Rotate the sheets top to bottom and front to back halfway through cooking.

Step Three: Cabernet Marinara

Here's what you'll need:

In a hot skillet, add olive oil, garlic, and basil.

Heat just until garlic starts to turn golden brown. Caution here, if you get any black bits or burning you will have to start over. There's no resurrecting garlic.

Add red wine, sugar, and red pepper flakes and reduce for 5 minutes. All of these ingredients are optional, but then again, flavor is optional too.

Add tomato paste and diced tomatoes and stir to incorporate.

Cover and simmer about 20 minutes until it comes together like this:

 

While the marinara simmers, cook your noodles. I made whole wheat capellini, but again, do what you feel!

Step Four: Assembly

You could go all fancy and assemble your ingredients in a baking dish, top with mozzarella cheese, and bake for an additional 10 minutes to create a near classic Parmesian. But I was hungry. So I just assembled like this:



Enjoy!