This is a long-time favorite recipe from <em>The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook</em>. What I love about this recipe is that there is no standing over the stove frying the eggplant in seemingly never-ending batches. This step is eliminated by baking the breaded eggplant slices on preheated baking sheets. The eggplant emerge from this step crispy and golden and are irresistible. Sometimes I stop here, pile the rounds on a platter and pass the <a href="https://food52.com/recipes/13722-marcella-hazan-s-tomato-sauce-with-onion-and-butter">Marcella Hazan tomato sauce</a> on the side along with some slices of fresh mozzarella. But completing the assembly process is rewarding, too, namely that the finished eggplant parmesan feeds a crowd and is completely comforting in the way that so many bubbling, cheesy, layered casseroles are. Like all eggplant parmesan recipes, this one is a labor of love -- salting the eggplant, drying and breading it take time. And if you make homemade sauce and breadcrumbs, well, set aside a good chunk of time before you plan on serving this. That said, sauce and breadcrumbs can be made days in advance. Cheese can be grated ahead of time, too.

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