Israeli Eggplant

Heat a 10- to 12-inch (25 cm) pan over medium-high heat. Add enough olive oil to cover the bottom of the pan in about 0.5 inch (1 cm) of oil. Add enough eggplant slices to cover the bottom of the pan, with a little room between the slices. Fry until golden brown on one side, flip, and fry slices on the other side. Transfer to paper towels and blot well.

Continue to fry the eggplant, adding more olive oil as needed to prevent the bottom of the pan from scorching. When all eggplant is fried, blot the slices and set aside.

In the same pan, add a bit of oil to gently saute the garlic and onion over a medium heat. When the onion is translucent, add the paprika. Stir about a minute.

Reduce the heat to low, add the tomato paste, and stir in until the paste is incorporated into the onions, galic, and paprika, about a minute.

Add the crushed tomatoes, and stir well. Add the sugar, the salt and pepper to taste.

Add some of the eggplant slices in one circular layer, and then gently push the eggplant layer into the sauce. Then, create another layer of eggplant on top of the first. Again, push the eggplant layer into the sauce until almost submerged. Continue this process until all the eggplant is placed into the sauce.

Cook over very low heat for about 25 minutes, being careful to retain the layered look of the eggplant, and occasionally slide a metal spatula underneath the bottom layer of eggplant to avoid scorching.

Turn off the heat and set the pan aside. Allow to cool to almost room temperature. Serve with lots of good crusty bread.