Grilled Eggplant Parm Recipe

Steps

1. 1Fire up. Preheat the grill to medium heat and set it up in a 2-zones.
2. 2Prep. A lot of recipes call for salting and squeezing the eggplant. I have never found this necessary if the fruit is fresh and firm. But there is a trick to reduce any stray bitterness: Remove some, but not all of the skin. This also makes it easier to cut and chew. The skin has a lot of flavor, but it can be tough. Peel the eggplants partially by making long vertical stripes. If you don't stripe it, the skin can form hard leathery bands that are difficult to cut and bite. Now slice the tubes widthwise into ½ inch (12.7 mm) thick disks and put them in a large bowl. They look cool if you slice on a slight angle. Add the mushroom to the bowl. Sprinkle with the salt, pepper, and olive oil, and toss them until lightly coated with oil and seasoning. Add more oil if necessary.
3. 3Cook. Grill the mushroom and eggplant over medium high direct heat until they begin to soften but not until they are limp. Back in the bowl they go. Leave the grill running.
4. 4In a metal baking pan, spread the eggplants out on the bottom. They can overlap if necessary. Cut the mushroom into bite-size chunks and scatter them on top of the slices. Sprinkle on the herbs. Then spoon the tomato sauce on making sure each slice of eggplant is well covered. Next goes the Parmigiano-Reggiano, then place a disk of the fresh mozzarella on top of each disk of eggplant.
5. 5Put the pan on the grill in the indirect heat zone and close the lid. Depending on your grill it will take about 20 minutes for the cheeses to melt. You can wait until it begins to brown slightly, but fresh mozz is slow to brown.
6. 6Serve. Serve the eggplant with a big red wine and a loaf of crusty bread. Maybe some garlic bread. I like to cut off hunks and put it on the bread and make open face sandwiches.