Eggplant Stacks with Mozzarella and Basil Pesto

I've never been a huge eggplant fan. It's not that I have had much of a chance to try any...I guess I just never really considered cooking with them. That is, until our CSA started putting them in our share. I've done a few things now that I have loved with eggplants, and now I seek them out: roasted eggplant spread with tahini, eggplant parms, and now this concoction.

I love that eggplants have a hearty, meaty feeling to them that makes them a good vegetarian main dish. Start with one large eggplant and slice into 3/4 inch disks like so:

Coat each disk in flour, dredge in 2 beaten eggs, and dip in a bread crumb mixture. Lay on parchment paper.

Fry breaded disks in a hot pan with a half inch of olive oil, about 3-5 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. With a large eggplant, you will need to do this in batches.  While the eggplant was browning, I mixed together a quick hand-crushed pesto--chopped basil leaves, chopped garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. I layered the eggplant stacks like so: eggplant, pesto, mozzarella, tomato, eggplant, pesto, mozzarella. I broiled each stack in the over until the cheese browned. I topped it with a single basil leaf and served it will the potato gratin. A simple, refreshing and pretty summer meal.

Dinner!

Lazy Dinner

One of my go-to dinners is Greek salad w/ garlic bread. It is easy, fast, delicious and always tastes indulgent. I like to make my Greek salads w/ chickpeas to add an extra dose of protein to make it a complete meal.

Ingredients:
Greek Salad
Thinly sliced red onions
Feta cheese cut into small blocks or crumbled
1 15 oz. can chickpeas (rinsed and drained to remove excess sodium)
Roasted red peppers (I pan sear fresh ones)
Mixed greens
Greek salad dressing (I use Tapas from Hartford, CT)

Garlic Bread
One baguette, split
Pinch salt
Pinch pepper
Pinch fines herbes
3 TBSP butter
1 TBSP olive oil
4 cloves finely minced garlic

Preheat over to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Meanwhile, melt butter with olive oil and add salt, pepper and herbs. Add in garlic. Spread mixture evenly over split baguette.


Place two slices of baguette together and wrap in foil. Place in over for approximately 10 minutes. After that, reduce heat to 250 degrees. Remove the foil and place, cut sides up, on a cookie sheet. Bake for 5 more minutes.

While the garlic bread is in the over heat 1 TBSP olive oil in skillet. Chickpeas can be added to the salad from the can, but I like to sautee mine in oil, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes for some extra flavor and crunch. Sautee until golden:

Toss salad greens with onions, feta, red peppers, sauteed chickpeas and salad dressing. For the most amazing Greek salad dressing in the world, try Tapas. While living in Hartford for 6 years, Tapas became my favorite Greek restaurant--their Greek salad w/ their own dressing is to die for!: tapasonline.com.



Enjoy!

Abbie