Eggplant Tower with Fresh Goat Cheese

This is a different take on a typical eggplant parmesan using fresh goat cheese instead. Serve as an appetizer or a wonderful entrée. 

Ingredients

Sauce
1 – 7 oz. jar of any brand of roast red peppers drained, about 1 cup blended
1 cup of canned peeled crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon of kosher salt
Eggplant
1- 2 1b. Eggplant skin removed and sliced in 1/4 inch circles
3 eggs beaten
2 cups of seasoned bread crumbs
1 cup of olive oil, more may be needed depending on absorption from the eggplant
1 mini log 4 – 5 oz. of fresh goat cheese

Technique

Combine drained roasted red peppers, crushed tomatoes and Kosher salt in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into a large pot and simmer over low heat. Heat olive oil on medium high heat in large skillet. Take each eggplant circle and dredge into the egg mixture then the bread crumb mixture and add to a skillet. Turn eggplant once, brown and repeat process for second side. Once both sides are browned, remove and place onto a cookie sheet coated with non-stick cooking spray. Repeat process for all remaining eggplant circles.  Do not overcrowd the skillet or they will not brown. Once all eggplant has been browned. Place cookie sheet(s) in a preheated oven at 375 degrees for 15 minutes to make sure eggplant is cooked and tender. Remove and place onto paper towels to remove any excess oil. Keep at room temperature until ready to plate. Once ready to serve. Dunk an eggplant circle into simmering roasted red pepper sauce. Place onto serving dish. Scoop a teaspoon of fresh goat cheese, repeat dunking with second circle and repeat the addition of the goat cheese. Top with one more eggplant circle that has been dunked into the simmering sauce, and serve. The cheese will melt from the heat of the sauce. Yield will depend on the size and the thickness of your eggplant. This particular eggplant yielded 5 large towers.

Suggested Beverage

Try Farnese Sangiovese (Italy), Cantina Zaccagnini il vino “dal tralcetto” Montepuliciano d’Abruzzo Dry Red Wine (Italy), Allegrini Palazzo Della Torre Veronese (Italy), Bogle Vineyards Old Vine Zinfandel (California) or Beringer Founder’s Estate Old Vine Zinfandel (California).

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.