Hello! How is everyone doing on this fine Tuesday?
Did you have a fun weekend? Nothing too exciting went on here, just some shopping, relaxation and regular garden cleanup. Kids are back at school but summer is not yet over.
As you know I cook, eat whatever vegetables I have grown so today I have a great side dish combining some of the best summer flavors- Caprese salad. It is one of my summertime favorite and so easy to put together. Ripe tomatoes, salty mozzarella and fresh and fragrant basil! It’s a classic combination that works in all sorts of ways. This time I thought I’d add a delightful twist to make it little more hearty. I decided to grill eggplant to add that hint of char to the caprese salad.
As caprese consists of very few ingredients, it’s important that they are all top quality as every flavor matters. If you don’t have a garden, no worries, head over to the farmer’s market and grab some high quality ingredients. Tomatoes and eggplants from your garden or the farmer’s market are exceptionally fresh and delcious than what you get from supermarkets. Buy really good tomatoes, a mix of colors is especially attractive and they should not be unripe or too ripe.
The eggplant in this preparation needs a little bit of grilling. I sliced the eggplant in between 1/4-1/2″ and then grilled in a grill pan . It becomes nice and soft and juicy as it grills. They say to salt the eggplant before cooking to remove bitterness. I am not sure if this step is actually necessary or not, it’s up to you. I have never found eggplant to be bitter. The combination of eggplant, tomatoes and soft mozzrella is pretty wonderful if I do say so myself. You can layer, arrange and place however you want to do it on a serving platter. Tradionally, it is simply drizzled with extra virgin olive oil, but I have taken the liberty of adding sweet balsamic glaze and pesto. They add extra flavor and flair.
This recipe is perfect to serve during parties or simple summer entertaining or just an easy side dish for weeknight dinner. I served this along with pizza when my daughter’s friends’ came over and I can’t tell you how much they enjoyed.
Ingredients
- 1 eggplant
- 3-4 large vine ripened tomatoes, cut into 1/4" slices
- 1 (250g) pack Fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/4" slices
- 1/4 cup sweet balsamic - recipe below
- 1/4 cup basil pesto - recipe below
- 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
- Basil leaves to garnish the platter
- Sea salt and fresh black pepper to taste
- 3-4 cloves of garlic
- 3 cups of fresh basil leaves, slightly packed
- 1/3 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated
- 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts ( I have also made walnuts pesto before)
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1-2 (+-) tbsp. lemon juice
- 3/4 cup good quality balsamic
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
Instructions
- Place the balsamic vinegar and maple syrup in a small saucepan and cook over medium low heat until reduced to at least half of the original amount. (it should have the consistency of honey) Remove it from the heat, and let it cool down.
- In a food processor or blender, combine the basil, cooled pine nuts, Parmesan, lemon juice, garlic and salt. With the machine running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Continue processing until the mixture is well blended but still has some texture, pausing to scrape down the sides as necessary. Taste, and adjust flavor as needed.
- Transfer to a bowl. Store in an airtight container or sealed mason jar and refrigerate. Pesto is best if used within a few days, otherwise you can freeze it for several months.
- Cut off and discard the stem end of the eggplant.
- Cut the eggplant into thick round slices (about 1 cm).
- Brush both sides of eggplant slices with olive oil and sprinkle sea salt. Grill the eggplant slices for 3 minutes in a grill pan. Turn, continue grilling until fork tender and marked with grill lines, 3 to 5 minutes more. Transfer to a large platter.
- To assemble, arrange or stack the sliced tomatoes, eggplant on a serving platter, alternating with the mozzarella. Drizzle about a tbsp. of olive oil, followed by balsamic glaze and pesto.
- Top with a basil leaves for garnish, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Angie@Angie's Recipes
That looks fabulous! Those grilled marks on the eggplant slices are just magnificent!
natalia20041989
Wow, those colors are amazing☺
Tarnjit
Hi aunty ji,
This sounds amazing! Will have to try it some time. I love caprese salad.
– Natasha 🙂
Balvinder
Thanks so much, Natasha! When I made this salad for Kiran’s friends I was not sure if they would love eggplant but they really enjoyed it. Let me know how it goes.
Shubha
Wow recipe totally.. love it totally.. yet another recipe of urs bookmarked..awesome ness:)
ZazaCook
Simply irresistible!
Blackswan
Toast to healthy lifestyle, dear! xoxo
Emma - Bake Then Eat
This salad looks amazing, I love caprese flavours and adding eggplant is just taking it over the edge 😀
Judee
What a great addition of the eggplant to a typical caprese salad. Looks beautiful