Ridiculous and Delicious Eggplant Parmesan

As I stood over the stove dredging and frying and sweating and trying to keep a curious toddler at bay with my foot, I told Joe: "This had BETTER be the best eggplant Parmesan we've ever had." 

Luckily, it was.  Behold, Bon Apétit's Best Eggplant Parmesan:

We loved it and we're not making it again for a long time. This is anniversary food, or birthday dinner, or really-lucky-company fare. At least if you're like me and prefer recipes with prep time of maybe 15 minutes. 

But Joe's on break, so I wanted to tackle A Big Project. I did a couple things that made it easier: using crushed tomatoes so I wouldn't have to run the sauce through a food processor after it baked (yes, baked), and putting the breaded eggplant slices directly in the frying pan instead of on a baking rack first. 

If I'm being honest, I've probably never used a baking rack when a recipe told me to. I'm a rebel.

A tired, full rebel.