In addition to the field tomatoes the eggplants or aubergines are also in season. Each time I walk by them in the farmers market they seem to call my name and since I have a nice long list of eggplant recipes to try so I picked some up. The first on my to try list was these fried eggplant appetizers from The Culinary Chase that I had bookmarked a long time ago and I had been waiting for eggplant season to return to try. These appetizers are basically two thinly sliced pieces of eggplant that sandwich a thin slice of fresh mozzarella and leaf of basil. The eggplant and mozzarella sandwiches are then breaded and fried until golden brown and crispy. I am not so great at cutting things uniformly and thinly so I pulled out my mandolin and it did a great job of it. Eggplants can sometimes be bitter so it is always a good idea to salt them to draw out the bitterness, though make sure that you don’t forget to rinse the salt off. The fried mozzarella eggplant sandwiches were pretty easy to assemble and the most challenging part was the deep frying. They came out nice and golden brown and crispy on the outside and were and soft and gooey on the inside. I really liked the fact that the exposed mozzarella around the edges also fried up nice an crispy ans it is hard to beat crispy fried cheese! I served the fried eggplant with a tasty roasted tomato version of a simple tomato sauce though there are a lot of tasty tomato sauces that would go really well with this fried eggplant.
Fried Eggplant and Mozzarella with a Roasted Marinara Dipping Sauce
ingredients
- 1 eggplant (thinly sliced)
- coarse salt
- 1 pound fresh mozzarella (thinly sliced)
- basil leaves
- 1/2 cup flour
- 1 large egg (lightly beaten)
- 1 cup bread crumbs
- oil for frying
directions
- Sprinkle the salt onto the eggplants slices and let rest for 20 minutes.
- Rinse the salt from the eggplant slices and pat them dry.
- Form sandwiches out of 2 slices of eggplant with a slice of mozzarella and a basil leaf in the middle.
- Dredge the eggplant sandwiches in the flour.
- Dip them into the egg and then in the bread crumbs to coat.
- Fry in oil until golden brown, about 2-4 minutes each.
- Cut into four and serve with a tasty tomato sauce.
Eggplant and Mozzarella Panini
Parmesan Crusted Baked Zucchini Sticks with Marinara Sauce
Eggplant Parmesan (Melanzane di Parmagiana)
Eggplant Parmesan (Lasagna Style)
Arancini di Riso (Rice Balls)
Crispy Baked Portobello Mushroom Fries
Crispy Baked Eggplant Fries with Marinara Dipping Sauce (aka Eggplant Parmesan Fries!)
Prosciutto Wrapped Mozzarella Balls
LAWSY MERCY! Kevin – do you ever have a bad recipe? You're like the energizer bunny of cooking! Thank you for feeding us all!
I've only recently changed my attitude about eggplant. But fried? I would have changed my attitude a lot sooner.
I love eggplant! What a great recipe! I'm bookmarking this one! Thanks!
Very nice…wonder if I can convince my family eggplant is edible. Oh well, I may just have to eat it without them.
I love eggplant recipes! yum!
Yummy!! I always order fried mozarrella when I eat out. Not sure why i haven't thought to make them myself. I think I shall now. Looks good, Kevin!
Oh, yum. That's all I can say.
I am astonished!
I was looking for recipes with maple syrup and found this blog! I loved the recipes and I'll try some!
I love eggplant! It looks great!
Great Blog!
See you!
An amazing combo! Looks and sounds delicious!
Cheers,
Rosa
I can almost taste the eggplant and the gooey mozarella.. yum!
Kevin this is a snack that I would walk miles for……just perfect!!!
What a tasty dish!! Who doesn't love this?
Now, you are making me hungry, Kevin!
Fried eggplant is one of my guilty pleasures, Kevin. These look amazing as is but I bet they would also be great on an open-faced sandwich with the marinara sauce and some more melted cheese on top.
WOW you made it look soooo amazing!!! Ive done something similar but never looked as nice! great job!
Wow, what an amazing recipe. Those look insanely good.
Oh my goodness, I love eggplant this looks delightful! Great recipe!
I think you should host a food blogging conference…at your house. And then you can cook for us all. That eggplant?! I don't have words. And no, I'm not being dramatic.
I really like to try one piece now 🙂
Ooooh eggplant – one of my very favorites. Great appetizer and looks delish!
HOw freaking delish does this look!! You truly are amazing! Thank you!! xOxo Nerina 🙂
Wow. That looks like Sunday football (or just Sunday fun day) all in one.
mmm, i want to serve this at a party. maybe i'll throw a party just so i can!
Definitely going to try these Kevin. Thanks…
I LOVE this! What a perfect appetizer, eggplant is one of my favorites!
Kevin that looks awesome! It also looks like the perfect football food! I can't wait to try it out this weekend, thanks for all the inspiration:)
Well, I'm going to add this to my list of eggplant recipes!
Wow! What a great idea to sandwich cheese with eggplant! Thanks for the tip about salting eggplant..
This sounds ridiculously delicious!!!!
OMG YUM! Fried eggplant and fried mozzarella are delicious on their own, but you went ahead and put them together into one wonderful bite. Genius!
This looks delicious! I feel like this would be fantastic in a sandwich with a fresh slice of tomato and some avocado!
İ love eggplant!
İt looks delicious..
Yum!
Прекрасный рецепт,баклажаны не только вкусно,полезно также.
This is brilliant!
Kevin,
Just like Gollum said in Lord of Rings, “you lie” and “telling me lies” … Grin. Where is the “Roasted Marinara Dipping Sauce”, Kevin? I am hungry, picture looks good, and my Gollum is not pleased.