Zucchini Parmesan

This recipe was inspired by my very popular zucchini fries.  My sister was asking for easy, inexpensive meals and I told her meatless was the way to go.  A lot of meatless recipes have you chopping lots of ingredients but this is pretty simple.  I used to be able to fool my daughter into thinking this was chicken parmesan but she caught on.  You can follow the instructions for breading and frying the zucchini and serve with ketchup or remoulade sauce for a fantastic side dish.

Ingredients:

3 medium zucchini, sliced lengthwise into 1/4 inch slices
1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
1/2cup grated Pecorino Romano
2 eggs lightly beaten and thinned with about 1 tablespoon of water
3/4 cup flour
Salt
Pepper
3 cups of your favorite tomato pasta sauce or marinara
2 cups shredded mozzarella
Olive or canola oil for frying
Chopped flat leaf parsley (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 F. Set up breading station by placing flour seasoned liberally with salt and pepper in one dish, eggs and water in another and panko with Pecorino in a third. Mix all thoroughly.   Heat oil is a pan over medium heat while slicing zucchini.  Dip zucchini in seasoned flour, knocking off excess, then dip in egg and finally in bread crumb mixture. If time allows, place on a wire rack to dry for 15 minutes which gives the breading time to adhere better.  If time is short, proceed to placing breaded zucchini into hot oiled pan. Allow to fry until a golden brown crust has formed, turning only once, 2-5 minutes. Brown on the second side. Meanwhile, coat the bottom of 9"X13" baking dish with 3/4 cups sauce.  You will be creating crossed layers of zucchini for texture. Place drained brown pieces of zucchini in the bottom to coat.  Cover with 1 cup of sauce and 1 cup of mozzarella.  Repeat second layer with the remaining browned zucchini layer crosswise over the first layer.  Coat with the remaining 1 1/4 cups sauce and 1 cup of mozzarella.  If you are feeding more people, you can continue to add layers up in a deep dish, covering the additional layers with sauce and cheese. Bake in a 400 oven until bubbling and cheese is just beginning to brown, about 30 minutes.

Serving ideas:
Serve with a tossed green salad and garlic knots (pizza dough, tied and knots and baked and then tossed with copious amounts of chopped garlic, Pecorino and olive oil once they come put of the oven)

Variations:
Obvious but, chicken or eggplant.  Make sure the chicken is thin sliced and if using eggplant it is peeled, cut and breaded in the same manner as the zucchini.  No need to salt the eggplant when used in this manner.

Leftover ideas:
One word: Lunch!