I always seem to buy the wrong eggplant variety for the dish I ultimately whip up, the best laid plans….This one is my take on a recipe I found at epicurious.com. It called for globe eggplant, but Japanese worked just fine. The dressing is amazing!
Ingredients:
1-pound eggplant, trimmed, cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices
Olive oil
1 large tomato
For the dish
1/3 c fresh basil
1 TBSP champagne wine vinegar
1/4 c olive oil
2 balls fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
3 large heirloom tomatoes, thinly sliced.
Prepare barbecue (medium heat).
Arrange eggplant slices on baking sheet. Brush both sides with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill until slightly charred and tender, turning occasionally and moving to cook evenly, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a baking sheet. Grill tomato until skin is charred and split, turning often, about 5 minutes. Transfer to sheet with eggplant and cool.
Core tomato; place in blender. Add chopped basil, vinegar, and 1/4 c oil. Blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to small bowl.
Overlap eggplant slices, cheese slices, and tomato slices on a large platter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Drizzle salad with dressing and garnish with basil sprigs.
Serves 4.
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