Oven-Crusted Eggplant and Fennel Parmesan

Ingredients

• 1 cup bread crumbs dried italian-style fine
• 0.3 cup cooking wine dry red
• 3 large egg whites 
• 1 lb eggplant 
• 1 head fennel bulb (4 in. wide)
• 1.5 teaspoons fennel seed crushed (see notes)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil 
• 0.8 cup parmesan cheese shredded
• 1.8 cups tomato pasta sauce fat-free canned
• 4 servings salt and pepper 

Equipment

• bowl
• frying pan
• baking sheet
• oven
• slotted spoon

Directions

1. In a bowl, beat egg whites and oil to blend. In another bowl, mix crumbs and fennel seed.
2. Rinse eggplant; trim and discard ends.
3. Cut eggplant crosswise into 1/3-inch-thick slices. Trim stalks from fennel head; rinse and reserve 1/4 cup feathery green leaves. Trim and discard fennel root end, bruised areas, and coarse fibers. Rinse fennel and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch slices.
4. Dip eggplant in egg mixture, lift out, drain briefly, and coat with crumb mixture. Arrange slices in a single layer on a 12- by 15-inch baking sheet.
5. Mix fennel, 1/2 at a time, with egg mixture. Lift out with a slotted spoon, drain briefly, then add to crumb mixture.
6. Mix and lift from crumbs.
7. Spread pieces in a single layer on another 12- by 15-inch baking sheet.
8. Bake in a 450 oven until vegetables are well browned and eggplant is soft when pressed, 15 to 20 minutes; if using 1 oven, switch pan positions after 7 to 9 minutes.
9. Remove fennel from oven and discard any scorched crumbs.
10. Sprinkle eggplant with 1/2 the cheese.
11. Bake until cheese is lightly browned, 3 to 4 minutes more.
12. Meanwhile, in a 1- to 2-quart pan over medium-high heat, stir pasta sauce and wine until boiling, 2 to 4 minutes.
13. Arrange equal amounts of eggplant and fennel on warm dinner plates; garnish with fennel leaves.
14. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Spoon sauce onto plates; add salt and pepper to taste.