This recipe is very easy to make and great for the summertime when it’s grillin’ time and these vegetables are in season.    The flavors are excellent and you will love it!

Eggplant with Tomato and Fresh Cheese

The beauty of recipes like this one is that you can use the dish as either a side dish, lunch or make it more of a main dish by placing the vegetables on top of some fresh pasta.

One tip however is to make sure when making the pasta to reserve some pasta water off to the side.  You don’t want the pasta to be sticky so by adding in some pasta water (no regular water) it will help it from becoming a gummy mess.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

Extra virgin olive oil (for the veggies)
Regular olive oil (for the grill)

1 medium or large eggplant sliced thin in 1/4 inch slices
1 – 2 medium or large fresh tomatoes (try to use roma because they are nice and meaty) in 1/4 inch slices
6 ounces hard Italian cheese (Romano or Parmesan for example) sliced thin into 8 slices

Instructions:

1. Preheat the grill or broiler to medium heat
2. Brush the grates or broiler tray with the regular olive oil
3. Brush the eggplant with the extra virgin olive oil on both sides
4. Place on grill and cook for 4 minutes on each side until grill marks appear
5. When you turn the eggplant over, you can add a slice of the cheese and tomato on top and lower the grill cover to allow the cheese to melt.
6. Transfer to a plate using a wide spatula and serve over greens or lay on top of some fresh pasta
7. TIP:  If using as a stand along dish (without pasta) drizzle some balsamic vinegar over the salad with some extra virgin olive oil and a small dash of salt.

Keep in mind, you can be creative with this dish.   Improvise with what you have – if you don’t have blocks of cheese that you can peel in layers than try shreddded or grated.

It is not always easy to switch things out when making meals unless you’ve done it before with success.  Of course you will never have done it before if there was never a first time.

Remember too, adjust quantities to whatever you like.  I personally like additional tomatoes – especially if over pasta.   Try tossing in some fresh basil leaves too!

Enjoy the dish and enjoy the last month of summer!

Liz
www.simpleitaliancooking.com

This week I was going to do regular Eggplant Parmesan.  But then I started thinking of some other ideas.  Thanks to a fellow blogger’s (Amelia over at http://www.ztastylife.com) comment at my original Eggplant Slices post, I decided to make a smaller version of Eggplant Parmesan.

I fried the eggplant like I normally do (flour, egg and breadcrumbs), then let them drain on paper towels.  This is very important to let as much grease/oil soak into the towels otherwise it will be too oily.

I then sliced some fresh mozzarella to 1/2 the width of the eggplant slices.

Eggplant Mozzarella Stack

Layered them on top of each other and topped with some warm fresh marinara sauce I had previously made.

Then I garnished with basil, which really could have been a more integral ingredient, but maybe next time.

I had sliced the whole eggplant, and had enough for 4 people.   My mother joined me, but my husband being sensitive to fried foods, just had a bite instead.  Good remarks from all.

Except…

1. I didn’t drain them on the towels like I normally do.  I tried to let them sit on some racks as an experiment.   Now I know to take advantage of the paper towels!
2. I had to take photos so my piece was pretty cold when I got to it.   It still tasted great but next time they will be warm thanks to not having to photograph.

One thing about this way of serving the recipe is presentation.   My mother was impressed and quite frankly so was I.  It looked like what I had envisioned in my mind, but didn’t think it would happen.

I love days like these!

Enjoy the recipe – here it is… Fried Eggplant and Mozzarella Stacks.

Liz
SimpleItalianCooking.com
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You gotta love this recipe because you don’t feel guilty due to the fact it uses vegetables!   I know, I know, it’s still not the same, but come on… let’s give a little.

Actually, I love the way this recipe tastes.  I do not deep fry the eggplant but fill the sauce pan with about 1/4″ of olive oil.  I add more as needed.

Fried Eggplant Slices

The first time I made this, I did not use enough oil.  Soon the pieces of breadcrumbs which were stuck in the pan started smoking and turning black.  The eggplant started burning as well – not what I was looking for.

So I removed those and added in more oil and tried some new ones.  Perfect.   A nice golden brown crust – I was so proud.   I enjoyed the recipe more than my husband, but I think that was because he’s trying to lose weight.  Don’t get me wrong – he liked the recipe. He blames my website as part of the culprit for not dropping the pounds quicker.   Well… this may be so, but I sure take it as a compliment. If he didn’t like my cooking, he’d be a toothpick!

When preparing the recipe I don’t know if you really need to go through the whole draining process for the eggplant- where you pour salt over the eggplant pieces and let it pull some of the moisture out.  It helps to remove some bitterness, but honestly, I don’t know if I’d do it again for this recipe.  I’ll let you know if I find a huge difference.

I’d recommend serving this with some marinara sauce on the side.  Nothing special – you can whip one up in a flash following my recipe.  Or just use some good quality jar sauce (oops did I say that?).  Serve it with a dish of pasta and you’re all set.

You can get the free recipe here where I’ve posted it for everyone on the planet to use.  Give it a try!

Ciao -  Liz
www.simpleitaliancooking.com
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