A long time ago there used to be a restaurant called Domani located on the Upper East Side of NYC. They had the most amazing Italian food. I don’t think any place exists now that can compare to the yummy raviolis, risottos, veal and overall experience. They also used to make an amazing tomato sauce and I was craving something Italian deliciousness. I needed it to be a little hardy so it could be dinner but I also wanted to be able to enjoy it without guilt. Fast forward and these eggplant stacks were born. The base is a meat sauce with an amazing flavor explosion, coming from Meal Mart hot Italian beef and veal sausages. The heat from the sausages adds so much to your palette my mouth was singing. I didn’t expect the little gurus to enjoy this as much as they did. In fact, I didn’t need to wash a dish, they were literally licked clean. I hope you enjoy this Dish as much as the family did.
Ingredients
- 2 lbs chopped meat
- 1 onion diced
- 2 stalks celery chopped small
- 1 package Meal Mart hot kosher beef and veal Italian sausages cut up (found in the freezer section)
- 2 cans crushed tomatoes
- 1 head of garlic minced
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1 large eggplant cut into thin circles
- 6 tbsp Olive oil divided
Directions
- In a dry pan on medium to high heat add the chopped meat and mix, breaking up the large clumps, and cook until it’s cooked through and fat is rendered.
- Strain cooked meat with a strainer and set aside.
- In the same frying pan add about a tbsp of olive oil, add onions and celery and sauté until translucent about 2-3 minutes, add in garlic and stir another minute.
- Add the Crushed tomatoes, chopped meat, and chopped up sausages.
- Allow to simmer on low for about an hour stirring frequently until it has cooked down.
- While meat is cooking on a greased cookie sheet, spread eggplant in a single layer.
- Drizzle a little olive oil, and sprinkle salt and pepper.
- Broil eggplant for 5 minutes on each side making sure it doesn’t burn and the eggplant is cooked through.
To assemble lay a piece of eggplant and add the meat mixture on top, Alternate meat and eggplant until you have about four layers ending with a meat layer.
Serve right away be prepared to have the plates licked clean!
Printable Version in Below
- 2 lbs chopped meat
- 1 onion diced
- 2 stalks celery chopped small
- 1 package Meal Mart hot kosher beef and veal Italian sausages cut up (found in the freezer section)
- 2 cans crushed tomatoes
- 1 head of garlic minced
- Salt
- Pepper
- 1 large eggplant cut into thin circles
- 6 tbsp Olive oil divided
- In a dry pan on medium to high heat add the chopped meat and mix, breaking up the large clumps, and cook until it’s cooked through and fat is rendered.
- Strain cooked meat with a strainer and set aside.
- In the same frying pan add about a tbsp of olive oil, add onions and celery and sauté until translucent about 2-3 minutes, add in garlic and stir another minute.
- Add the Crushed tomatoes, chopped meat, and chopped up sausages.
- Allow to simmer on low for about an hour stirring frequently until it has cooked down.
- While meat is cooking on a greased cookie sheet, spread eggplant in a single layer.
- Drizzle a little olive oil, and sprinkle salt and pepper.
- Broil eggplant for 5 minutes on each side making sure it doesn’t burn and the eggplant is cooked through.
- To assemble lay a piece of eggplant and add the meat mixture on top, Alternate meat and eggplant until you have about four layers ending with a meat layer.
