Eggplant with Tomatoes (aubergines aux tomates)

Recipe from Ginette Mathiot's I know how to Cook

I've never eaten eggplant, let alone cooked with it. However, walking around the farmers market yesterday I saw this interesting looking vegetable (Fun Fact: Eggplants aren't actually vegetables, they are berries. FF#2: Eggplants contain nicotiniod alkaloids which means eggplants and tobacco are basically cousins in the "cigarette-berry family tree". But don't you worry, you would need to eat 20-40lbs of eggplant to get the same amount of nicotine that's in one cigarette. -Thank you Wikipedia).

Here's the recipe from this oversized, totally unnecessary and underused french cookbook.

Eggplant and Tomatoes is on the left

5 ounces tomatoes, chopped (I just used 1 can of diced tomatoes)
1 eggplant
Oil, for pan-frying
Salt and Pepper
1 small handfull of flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 garlic clove, chopped
3 tbsp butter

Make a tomato sauce by cooking the tomatoes in a dry pan for 10 minutes, stirring constantly. Mash through a strainer with a wooden spoon and set aside. Cut the eggplants into 1/2 inch slices. Heat the oil to a depth of 3/4 inch in a deep skillet. Pan-fry the eggplants in batches in the hot oil until golden, about 5 minutes. Drain on paper towels. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350F. Arrange a layer of tomato paste and a layer of eggplants in an ovenproof dish, season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle each layer with the parsley and garlic. Dot with the butter and bake for 45 minutes.

I used a lot more parsley than the picture shows, but it didn't really seem to matter. These 'eggplant chips' were actually quite good. I don't think I'll be making them in the future. I'm more of a zucchini fan. Have a great Sunday Night!!