Eggplant Pecorino

READ THE WORDS “eggplant Parmesan” on almost any restaurant menu and you know what you’re in for: a mountain of mozzarella, a loaf’s worth of bread crumbs, a swimming pool of sweet red sauce, and, buried deep beneath it all, a fat slab of mushy eggplant. It’s usually a heavy dish that requires a nap afterward.

But at La Campagna, a small strip mall restaurant in Westlake, Ohio (see “If You Want to Find Me, You’ll Find Me”), I was served a version of eggplant Parm that turned the concept on its head. A lighter hand produced a dish that actually