Grilled Eggplant Stacks With Goat Cheese Tomato And Basil Sauce Recipes

GRILLED EGGPLANT STACKS WITH TOMATO AND FETA

Steps:

• Blend basil with oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt in blender until finely chopped. Pour into a paper-towel- or coffee-filter-lined sieve set over a bowl and let drain 20 minutes. Gather together sides of towel or filter and press gently on it to extract more oil. (You will have a generous 1/3 cup oil.) Reserve 1 tablespoon basil oil separately for serving. Scrape basil solids into a small bowl and reserve.
• Prepare grill for cooking over medium-hot charcoal (moderate heat for gas); see "Grilling Procedure," below.
• While grill heats, cut off bottoms of eggplants, then cut 6 (1/2-inch-thick) crosswise rounds from each, starting from cut end. Reserve remaining eggplant for another use. Cut 4 (1/3-inch-thick) rounds from large tomato and 2 center slices (1/3 inch thick) from each medium tomato, reserving remaining tomato for another use.
• Lightly brush eggplant rounds on both sides with basil oil and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Grill on a lightly oiled grill rack, covered only if using a gas grill, turning over occasionally, lightly brushing eggplant with more basil oil occasionally if it looks dry, until eggplant is very tender, 6 to 10 minutes. (Leave gas grill on.)
• Make stacks:
• On baking pan, arrange 4 largest eggplant rounds side by side and spread each with a generous 1/2 teaspoon of reserved basil solids, then top each with 1 of 4 largest tomato rounds. Season tomatoes with salt and pepper and top each with about 1 tablespoon feta. Make another layer with medium-size eggplant rounds, basil solids, medium tomato rounds, salt, pepper, and feta, then top with remaining eggplant and feta.
• Set baking pan on grill and cook stacks, with grill cover closed, until heated through and cheese on top is softened, about 3 minutes. Transfer stacks to 4 plates and drizzle plates with reserved basil oil.
• Grilling Procedure
• If using a charcoal grill, open vents on bottom of grill, then light charcoal. When charcoal turns grayish white (about 15 minutes from lighting), hold your hand 5 inches above grill rack to determine heat for charcoal as follows:
• Hot: When you can hold your hand there for 1 to 2 seconds
• Medium-hot: 3 to 4 seconds
• Low: 5 to 6 seconds
• If using a gas grill, preheat burners on high, covered, 10 minutes, then, if necessary, reduce to heat specified in recipe.

GRILLED GOAT'S CHEESE AND EGGPLANT, FROM CHRIS COX

Steps:

• Slice the eggplant thin and sprinkle with salt. Allow to drain in a colander for an hour.
• Preheat broiler.
• Pat the eggplant dry with paper towels and brush the slices on both sides with the olive oil. Place them on a broiling pan lined with aluminum foil and broil them lightly, turning once, until the slices are golden but not overbrowned. Cool.
• Meanwhile, make the tomato sauce, or puree. Boil the tomatoes in their skins for 10 minutes. Drain and, when cool enough to handle, peel the skins. Squeeze out the juice and seeds and discard. Place the pulp in a food processor. Process until smooth and pour into a noncorrosive saucepan. The puree should be quite thick. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
• Slice the round tomatoes thin. Place two slices eggplant per person, overlapping them slightly, on a broiling pan lined with foil. (You should have eight portions.) Top each portion with a slice or two of tomato and a generous tablespoon of goat's cheese. Set aside.
• Preheat broiler. Broil the eggplant until the cheese is browned and bubbling. While it is cooking, warm the tomato sauce.
• Place the eggplant portions on individual plates, with a pool of sauce on the side. Garnish with basil and serve.

GRILLED EGGPLANT STACKS

Steps:

• Place eggplant slices in colander; sprinkle evenly with 1/2 tsp salt.
• Let stand 10 minutes and then rinse slices thoroughly; dry with paper towels.
• Combine vinegar, wine, and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat; bring to a boil.
• Reduce heat and simmer until reduced to about 1/4 cup (8 minutes).
• Prepare grill.
• Trim ends from the zucchini and yellow squash; slice length-wise into 4, 1/4-inch strips.
• Flatten pepper pieces with hand.
• Brush vegetables with olive oil then sprinkle with remaining salt and pepper.
• Place pepper pieces skin side down, eggplant, zucchini and squash on grill rack.
• Grill 8 minutes or until tender turning once.
• Combine cheese with basil and oregano.
• To assemble stack, place 1 eggplant slice on plate.
• Top with 1/4 of the cheese mixture lay one strip of squash and one strip zucchini side by side.
• Drizzle with 1.5 tsp balsamic mixture. Then place 1 piece of pepper and top with another eggplant slice.
• Repeat procedure with remaining vegetables, cheese, and sauce.
• Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

GRILLED EGGPLANT WITH TOMATOES, BASIL, AND FETA

Steps:

• Generously season eggplant slices with salt. Place vertically in a colander, overlapping them. Let stand 30 minutes; rinse and pat dry.
• Preheat grill to medium-high. Liberally brush cut sides of eggplant with oil. Grill, turning once, until tender, about 4 minutes a side. Mix tomatoes, pine nuts, feta, red-pepper flakes, and oil; season with salt. Spoon over eggplant; top with basil.

GRILLED EGGPLANT STACKS

Steps:

• Mix all marinade ingredients together in a large container with a lid.
• Add eggplant and toss to coat.
• Marinade for 1-8 hours.
• Heat grill.
• When grill is hot place eggplant on the hot preheated grill. Grill about 10 minutes, turning once.
• Enjoy as is or.
• Top with cheese and tomato slices.
• You can drizzle with balsamic that has been reduce by half.
• garnish with herbs.

GRILLED EGGPLANT PARMESAN STACKS

Steps:

• Trim ends of eggplant; cut eggplant crosswise into eight slices. Sprinkle with salt; let stand 5 minutes., Blot eggplant dry with paper towels; brush both sides with oil and sprinkle with pepper. Grill, covered, over medium heat 4-6 minutes on each side or until tender. Remove from grill., Top eggplant with mozzarella cheese, tomato and Parmesan cheese. Grill, covered, 1-2 minutes longer or until cheese begins to melt. Top with basil.

GRILLED EGGPLANT STACKS WITH GOAT CHEESE, TOMATO AND BASIL SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Cut the eggplant into ½" thick rounds. Lightly season them with salt on both sides and let sit on a paper towel for 30 minutes to let water to come out of the eggplant.
• Brush or drizzle olive oil on top of each slice and grill them for 2 -3 minutes each side until cooked.
• Blend the basil leaves with 4 tablespoons olive oil, 2 garlic cloves, lemon juice, and 1 teaspoon salt in a food processor or blender until smooth.
• Cut the tomatoes crosswise to 1/4" thick rounds.
• On an oiled baking pan or using parchment paper, arrange 4 eggplant rounds side by side. Spread 1/2 tablespoon of the basil-garlic mixture on top of each one, then generously sprinkle the cheese crumbs. Top each with tomato rings. Add another layer of eggplant, basil spread, cheese and tomato rounds and top with the rest of the crumbled feta. Make as many layers as you can. Usually, 1 large eggplant will make 4, 3 layer stacks.
• Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes until the tomatoes are wilted and the cheese is soft and melted.
• Enjoy!