Nov 16, 2012
I made this for a family dinner (eight people) and received rave reviews with nothing left over. It was many peoples first time trying eggplant, or the first time after a bad experience with it years ago. I'm happy to report that I turned everyone into eggplant fans! I made the following alterations because of the increased number of guests and what I had readily availible: I used 3 good sized eggplants, about 3 cups of chopped mushrooms, about a half of a really huge onion, and found that a little over a 1/4 cup of butter sufficed. I also didn't have breadcrumbs so used about a cup and a half of Panko (which was delicious and crunchy and made up for some of the left-out buttery flavor). I also didn't have 'Italian Seasoning' so I eyeballed a mixture of basil, oregano, thyme, dried parsley and sage. I was a bit short on Swiss so i diluted it with a bit of shredded cheddar, and it was wonderful. I made one shell without cheese for a specific guest and they loved it, so if you dont have swiss of much cheese on hand I wouldn't worry about if affecting the outcome too much, maybe just top off with a bit of parsley. LOVED IT and might make it as a new side this christmas! I would highly recommend using this recipe to convert any eggplant skeptic!
—ChefInTheFamily
