Meatless Fridays

My summer garden is pretty much done except for eggplants and peppers. We'll be harvesting those until well into October! This is a great way to use up that eggplant and it doesn't have all that breading like a traditional eggplant Parmesan.
This week's Meatless Friday meal is:

Eggplant Gratin

Olive oil for frying
1 1/2 pounds eggplant, unpeeled, cut into 1/2 inch thick slices
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
2 extra large eggs
1/2 cup half-and-half
1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup marinara sauce
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese



Preheat oven to 425 F. Heat 1/8 inch of olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Do not use extra virgin olive oil, the smoke temperature is too low.
When the olive oil is almost smoking, add several slices of eggplant and cook them. Flip them once they get light brown. Both sides should be cooked through in 5 minutes. Transfer cooked eggplant to paper towels to drain. Do this until all eggplant slices are cooked.
In a small bowl, mix together the ricotta, eggs, half-and-half, Parmesan, salt, and pepper. In a shallow baking dish, place a layer of eggplant then sprinkle with more pepper and Parmesan cheese. Spoon on half of the marinara and half of the ricotta mixture. Place the second layer of eggplant on top of the mixtures, top that with the rest of the marinara, and ricotta mixture.
Spread the mozzarella on top and bake for 10 minutes.
Lower the heat to 375 F and bake for another 20 minutes or until the top is lightly browned.