I saw this recipe on Easy Entertaining with Michael Chiarello on the Food Network. I cannot wait to try it. It has two of my favorite ingredients – eggplant and tomato.
For this recipe, you will need 3 large eggplants, kosher salt, extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar, two large tomatoes (or three medium ones), minced garlic, 1 1/2 pounds of fresh mozzarella.
To prep for this recipe, cut the eggplant crosswise into 1/2 inch slices. Cut the tomatoes into 1/4 inch slices (you should have about 16 slices). Cut the fresh mozzarella into 1/4 inch slices.
Place the eggplant slices in a large bowl. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup of kosher salt and rub the salt on each side of each slice with your fingers. Put your eggplant slices in a colander and place that in a large bowl to catch any juices. Let that sit for 1 to 2 hours.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. You will need two 18 x 13 inch cookie sheets lined with aluminum foil. Run the eggplant slices under cold water to rinse them then dry with a paper towel. Place each slice on the cookie sheet so they are not touching. Brush each one with olive oil and balsamic vinegar then sprinkle with ground pepper.
On the other cookie sheet, drizzle 2 tablespoons of olive oil then lay out the tomato slices. Season those with salt, pepper, and minced garlic. Bake the tomato slices until they are just beginning to get brown. This should take about 10 – 15 minutes. Then remove them from the oven (don’t turn them over). Put the eggplant slices in the oven for about 20 – 30 minutes until they are browned. Remove those and let both sheets set until cool enough to touch.
On the cookie sheet with the eggplant slices, place one slice of mozzarella on top of each eggplant slice. Top the mozzarella with a tomato slice and another slice of eggplant. When all the pieces are arranged, put the cookie sheet back in the oven until the mozzarella starts to melt. Then remove, drizzle with olive oil and serve.