Help yourself to palate-pleasing Eggplant Parmesan with a homemade tomato sauce, meatballs and Italian Cream Cake, while also helping an organization raise money.

That’s the tastiest kind of fundraiser, so mark your calendar for Nov. 13.

At “Secrets of an Italian Kitchen,” you will get recipes and a how-to demonstration on making these dishes, along with wine, beer, cheeses, bruschetta and other appetizers, silent auction items and prizes.

The Volunteer Center of Morgan County’s second annual “Celebrity Chef” event will feature Rick Paler of Decatur. The demonstration and tasting will be from 6 to 8 p.m. at City View Farms.

Paler currently serves as executive director of Downtown Redevelopment in Decatur, but he is known for his cooking and knowledge of wines.

At The University of Alabama, Paler earned a bachelor’s degree in communications with a minor in business, and his primary career has been in commercial development.

“In 1989, I took a sabbatical and lived in Paris for six months to take cooking classes — not to become a chef, but to get the exposure and understanding for opening a restaurant,” he said.

Though he learned to cook all types of European dishes there, he often prepares wild game and barbecue while at home in the South.

He and a couple of partners opened the Green Bottle Grill in Huntsville in 1991 and operated it successfully until they sold it in 1999.

The menu he will prepare for this fundraiser “is serious Italian food, and like anything else, there’s a trick to it,” Paler said. He gave an advance demonstration of some of his dishes last week for Volunteer Center Executive Director Jessica Nelson and The Decatur Daily.

Sauces don’t come out of a jar in the Paler kitchen, so first he made his own Tomato Sauce.

“This is a combination of three or four different recipes,” he said. “Part of it is from my mother, and part from three or four Italian cooks.”

His all-purpose sauce can be used for spaghetti and meatballs, lasagna and other dishes, as well as his Eggplant Parmesan.

He prefers to start with the Progresso brand of Italian-style canned tomatoes.

“Then I crush and break up the tomatoes by hand, especially working it where the stem was. That’s how you get the chunkiness,” Paler said.

His Tomato Sauce is flavored with basil, oregano, fennel, nutmeg, garlic, Italian parsley and dry white wine (he recommends keeping Martini & Rossi dry vermouth in the refrigerator to use whenever a recipe calls for white wine).

Chopped carrots and celery provide more veggies than tomatoes alone would, “and the carrot adds a little sweetness to the sauce,” Paler said.

He finely grates his own nutmeg, and he pulls the leaves off Italian flat-leaf parsley and finely chops them with a knife.

To make his Eggplant Parmesan, “I like a good Parmigiano Reggiano,” Paler said. Last week, that cheese was Boars Head from Publix. Then he showed how to layer slices of eggplant over his Tomato Sauce, with several cheeses in between and on top before baking in a casserole dish.

Paler will also explain how to make his special meatballs, which are a compilation of several recipes.

“The secret to those is don’t squeeze them into tight balls, but keep ’em loose,” Paler said.

Want more tips and the recipe for the meatballs and easy Italian Cream Cake?

Get your ticket for this Volunteer Center benefit, which will raise money to support volunteer programs for youth and adults. Tickets are $40 each and available from the Volunteer Center at 355-8628, said Kellie Ray, special events and fundraising coordinator.

About 125 attended last year, when local cookbook author Betty Sims prepared holiday party foods, and the Volunteer Center staff plans to prepare for 200 this year.

Eggplant Parmesan

One large eggplant

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 eggs

1 cup Panko bread crumbs

Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

Mozzarella cheese

Salt and pepper

Vegetable oil

Butter

Oregano

Peel and slice eggplant 3/4-inch thick. Salt slices and stand them upright in a colander to drain for 30 minutes. In the first of three separate bowls, mix together 1 cup all-purpose flour with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. In the second bowl, beat two eggs. In the third bowl, mix 1 cup Panko bread crumbs with 1/3 cup of coarse grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.

Shake excess water off eggplant and pat dry with a paper towel. Dip each slice in the flour first; shake off excess, then dip into the egg mix. Shake off excess and finally dip into the Panko mix. Set aside on wax paper until ready for frying.

Put approximately 11/2 inches of vegetable oil in a deep skillet and heat to 350 degrees. Fry 4 to 5 slices at a time for 2 to 21/2 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels.

Prepare baking dish with butter. Spoon tomato sauce (see separate recipe) on bottom of dish, then place a layer of eggplant on top and then add more sauce, a pinch of oregano, salt and pepper, fresh grated Parmigiano and fresh grated mozzarella. Top each slice of eggplant with another slice and then add more tomato sauce and seasonings and finish up with cheeses. Put into a 350-degree oven for 20 minutes, check on moisture and then return to oven for 10 more minutes.

Makes 8 servings with two eggplant slices each (you may want to serve each person 4 eggplant slices).

Tomato Sauce

1/2 cup chopped onion

4 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup chopped celery

1 carrot, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

3 tablespoons chopped Italian parsley

11/2 tablespoons salt

11/2 teaspoons dried basil

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/2 teaspoon fennel, crushed

2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg

1 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup milk

2 28-ounce cans Progresso whole peeled tomatoes with basil

2 6-ounce cans Progresso tomato paste

Sauté onion and garlic in oil and butter until clear. Add celery, parsley and carrots and sauté 2 minutes.

Add salt and wine and cook until almost evaporated. Stir.

Add milk, nutmeg, oregano, basil and fennel and cook until milk almost evaporates. Add tomatoes with juice, roughly crushed. Add tomato paste, sugar and pepper.

Simmer 1 hour, covered, stirring occasionally. Keep heat low enough to avoid sauce sticking to the bottom of the pot.