Hi Gracie,
I'm also from European decent, but married an Italian. I make it similar to everyone here. I peel the eggplant. I make a batter, flour-milk-eggs. Goes in the batter and then in the breadcrumbs, and then fry it. The sauce is the most important. The quality and consistency of the tomatoes is for me the big thing. I use Tussorroso Crushed tomatoes. To make an easy sauce, I use 1 lb of ground beef, and 1 lb of ground pork. You can add italian sausage, or a pork chop. Brown up the meat, pour in 3 -4 cans of the tomatoes. Add a bunch of Garlic powder and Onion powder. Cook on low for 3 hours. Stir it every 20 minutes or so. That's it. I also use very strong cheese. I like a Sharp Provolone and Pecorino Romano ground together. I'll be there in November and we can have some Italian cooking lessons. My Italian MIL taught me to make homemade tortillini's, ravioli, marsala, pesto. Lots of yummy italian. There's nothing more fun than a Tortillini party. Hang out, dring some wine, make Tortillini's and then eat em.
