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Cooking adventures in a small, closet sized, kitchen. - I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years. It was time for a change! I now spend my free time searching for, creating and trying tasty new recipes in my closet sized kitchen.

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Fried Eggplant and Mozzarella with a Roasted Marinara Dipping Sauce

[heart_this] · Oct 1, 2009 · 34 Comments

Fried Eggplant and Mozzarella with a Roasted Marinara Dipping Sauce

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

Fried Eggplant and Mozzarella with a Roasted Marinara Dipping Sauce

Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 35 minutes Total Time: 50 minutes Servings: 4
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
  1. Sprinkle the salt onto the eggplants slices and let rest for 20 minutes.
  2. Rinse the salt from the eggplant slices and pat them dry.
  3. Form sandwiches out of 2 slices of eggplant with a slice of mozzarella and a basil leaf in the middle.
  4. Dredge the eggplant sandwiches in the flour.
  5. Dip them into the egg and then in the bread crumbs to coat.
  6. Fry in oil until golden brown, about 2-4 minutes each.
  7. Cut into four and serve with a tasty tomato sauce.
Similar Recipes:
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

Appetizer, Food, Italian, Low-carb, Recipe, Vegetable, Vegetarian

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Mary says

    October 2, 2009 at 12:37 am

    LAWSY MERCY! Kevin – do you ever have a bad recipe? You're like the energizer bunny of cooking! Thank you for feeding us all!

    Reply
  2. Amy says

    October 2, 2009 at 12:46 am

    I've only recently changed my attitude about eggplant. But fried? I would have changed my attitude a lot sooner.

    Reply
  3. [email protected] Cutting Edge of Ordinary says

    October 2, 2009 at 12:48 am

    I love eggplant! What a great recipe! I'm bookmarking this one! Thanks!

    Reply
  4. Julie says

    October 2, 2009 at 12:53 am

    Very nice…wonder if I can convince my family eggplant is edible. Oh well, I may just have to eat it without them.

    Reply
  5. Chef Fresco says

    October 2, 2009 at 1:10 am

    I love eggplant recipes! yum!

    Reply
  6. Jenn says

    October 2, 2009 at 2:11 am

    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!

    Reply
  7. screwdestiny says

    October 2, 2009 at 2:41 am

    Oh, yum. That's all I can say.

    Reply
  8. Marina says

    October 2, 2009 at 3:26 am

    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!

    Reply
  9. Rosa's Yummy Yums says

    October 2, 2009 at 3:49 am

    An amazing combo! Looks and sounds delicious!

    Cheers,

    Rosa

    Reply
  10. ♥peachkins♥ says

    October 2, 2009 at 4:45 am

    I can almost taste the eggplant and the gooey mozarella.. yum!

    Reply
  11. Nina Timm says

    October 2, 2009 at 5:58 am

    Kevin this is a snack that I would walk miles for……just perfect!!!

    Reply
  12. Sophie says

    October 2, 2009 at 9:16 am

    What a tasty dish!! Who doesn't love this?

    Now, you are making me hungry, Kevin!

    Reply
  13. Joanne says

    October 2, 2009 at 10:13 am

    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.

    Reply
  14. Jennifer says

    October 2, 2009 at 11:03 am

    WOW you made it look soooo amazing!!! Ive done something similar but never looked as nice! great job!

    Reply
  15. Carrie says

    October 2, 2009 at 2:01 pm

    Wow, what an amazing recipe. Those look insanely good.

    Reply
  16. Michelle says

    October 2, 2009 at 2:25 pm

    Oh my goodness, I love eggplant this looks delightful! Great recipe!

    Reply
  17. CinnamonQuill says

    October 2, 2009 at 3:01 pm

    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.

    Reply
  18. Anncoo says

    October 2, 2009 at 3:41 pm

    I really like to try one piece now 🙂

    Reply
  19. Debbie says

    October 2, 2009 at 4:22 pm

    Ooooh eggplant – one of my very favorites. Great appetizer and looks delish!

    Reply
  20. NicNacManiac says

    October 2, 2009 at 4:41 pm

    HOw freaking delish does this look!! You truly are amazing! Thank you!! xOxo Nerina 🙂

    Reply
  21. The Duo Dishes says

    October 2, 2009 at 7:02 pm

    Wow. That looks like Sunday football (or just Sunday fun day) all in one.

    Reply
  22. teresa says

    October 2, 2009 at 7:19 pm

    mmm, i want to serve this at a party. maybe i'll throw a party just so i can!

    Reply
  23. George Gaston says

    October 2, 2009 at 8:02 pm

    Definitely going to try these Kevin. Thanks…

    Reply
  24. Kerstin says

    October 2, 2009 at 8:36 pm

    I LOVE this! What a perfect appetizer, eggplant is one of my favorites!

    Reply
  25. Tatiyana says

    October 2, 2009 at 9:16 pm

    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:)

    Reply
  26. Pam says

    October 3, 2009 at 1:47 am

    Well, I'm going to add this to my list of eggplant recipes!

    Reply
  27. Veggie Belly says

    October 3, 2009 at 4:33 am

    Wow! What a great idea to sandwich cheese with eggplant! Thanks for the tip about salting eggplant..

    Reply
  28. SAMROMAGE says

    October 3, 2009 at 2:52 pm

    This sounds ridiculously delicious!!!!

    Reply
  29. Deseree says

    October 4, 2009 at 4:39 pm

    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!

    Reply
  30. Sheila says

    October 5, 2009 at 4:49 pm

    This looks delicious! I feel like this would be fantastic in a sandwich with a fresh slice of tomato and some avocado!

    Reply
  31. Pepela says

    June 27, 2010 at 7:02 pm

    İ love eggplant!
    İt looks delicious..
    Yum!

    Reply
  32. Oleg Fokin says

    September 9, 2012 at 12:51 pm

    Прекрасный рецепт,баклажаны не только вкусно,полезно также.

    Reply
  33. Russ says

    August 29, 2019 at 1:39 pm

    This is brilliant!

    Reply
  34. david fullerton says

    September 17, 2019 at 11:08 am

    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.

    Reply

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Kevin: I came to realize that my meals were boring and that I had been eating the same few dishes over and over again for years. It was time for a change! I now spend my free time searching for, creating and trying tasty new recipes in my closet sized kitchen.
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