Cotolette di Melanzane - vegetarian

I saw a round aubergine/eggplant at our local Turkish market. These are rare here, mostly you can get the normal ones. Since my trip to Sicily I love this veg. We had quiet a verity of  dishes containing eggplant and I decided to make a vegetarian dish for tonight.

It takes a bit of time, because you need to let the slices of the eggplant to tear up a bit - that means you have to salt them, stack them and let them sit for 30-45 minutes. They loose a lot of liquid that way. This method prevents them to soak up all the fat later.

recipe:
650 g round eggplant
salt
2 eggs
100 g Panko breadcrumbs
50 g ground Parmesan
dried thyme
pepper
2 garlic cloves
a good amount of olive oil
100 g Ayvar - mild or hot -your choice

Top and tail the eggplant and cut it in 1,5 cm slices.
salt them on both sides and stack them upright in a bowl and let them sit 30 minutes minimum.

Use a bit sheet of paper towel and place them beside each other and take second paper  to pat them dry.
Beat the eggs with the thyme.
Grate the Parmesan cheese and mix it with the Panko.
Pepper the slices and get them into the beaten egg and through the panko mix.

In a huge pan drop in the garlic cloves in the oil on medium heat. You will need a bit more then  the usual amount of oil, but do not fear, it does not soak up to much.
The eggplant needs 3 minutes on each side, do not get them to dark.