Homemade Tomato Sauce / Eggplant Parmesan

Once a year my aunts and cousins have a tomato canning party.  I'm not really a big fan of tomatos but I was in the fall mood and wanted to cook with them.  I decided I wanted to make Eggplant Parmesan and to put a Slow Cooker spin on it I made the tomato sauce from scratch the night before.  This is probably my favorite Slow Cooker accomplishment so far!  I have also decided to start eating healthier so the Eggplant Parmesan has a healthy twist to it!

To begin I needed to skin and seed all of the tomatoes.  To I boiled them for a few minutes and then filled the pot with cold water the make the process a little easier.

Ten Roma Tomatoes

I was fine peeling the tomatoes but I didn't do a very good job getting the seeds out.  In the end you couldn't even tell they were there.

While the tomatoes were boiling I gathered all of the seasonings, chopped the onion and prepared the slow cooker.

Salt, Garlic, Basil, Oregano, Ground Red Pepper and Pepper

I mixed everything together and put in the fridge until the morning. 

I started the slow cooker the next morning at 7:30 am and let it cook until I got home at 5:30 pm.  The house smelled amazing and the sauce looked so good!  I know I took a picture of the final product but I'm unable to find it.  I'm sorry.

Ingredients:
10 Roma Tomatoes
1/2 Onion, chopped
1 Tablespoon Garlic
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
1 Teaspoon Oregano
1 Teaspoon Basil
1 Teaspoon Red Pepper
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Pepper
Cook on low for 10 hours

The tomato sauce was a little too spicy for me.  Next time I will try adding half of the Red Pepper that I used.  This is all a learning experience, right!  Then I made the Eggplant Parmesan.  I found an awesome recipe for it at Gina's Skinny Recipes! I actually baked the Eggplant the night before because I knew I would be hungry afterwork and I wanted to cut some of the steps out.

To prepare the Eggplant you want to slice it in about 1/4" thick pieces.

One Large Eggplant

Then lightly salt the slices and place it in a strainer for about a half hour.  This was actually pretty cool because you could see the liquid coming out of them.  I blotted them with paper towels when they were finished.

Next I brushed them with a little Olive Oil and baked them on 450 for 30 minutes.  I flipped them around 15 minutes in.

Eggplant brushed with Olive Oil 15 minutes into the baking.

While these were baking I mixed together the Ricotta, Romao Cheese, Parley and Egg.

Ricotta, Romano, Parsley and an Egg

Once everything is ready it is just a layering game!  Start with a little sauce on the bottom of the pan, lay half of the Eggplant down, spread the cheesy mixture on top, cover with half of the mozzarella and then repeat.  After the layering is finished sprinkle a little Romano on top and bake.  I covered it with foil and baked it at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.  Then I took off the foil and turned off the over and left it in there for another 10 minutes to brown it up a little.  It was tan and bubbly when finished!

This was my first time making and trying Eggplant Parmesan!  I really liked it besides the whole spicy factor.  I can't wait to try it again with a lot less Red Pepper.  I had to have a glass of milk with it to calm my mouth down a little but I'm a wimp.  My friend who likes a little spice had some too and she really enjoyed it!  I love trying new dishes!!

Ingredients:
1 Eggplant (I will probably use 2 next time because it was spread pretty thin)
1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil
15 oz Fat Free Ricotta Cheese
1/4 cup Romano Cheese (Plus a little extra to sprinkle on top)
1/4 cup Parsley, chopped
1 Egg
1 Cups Reduced Fat Mozzarella
Homemade Tomato Sauce
Salt

Makes 8 Servings
8 Points +
265 Calories
12g Fat
14 Protein
35 Carb
4 Fiber