Oven-Fried Eggplant Stack

Oven-Fried Eggplant Stack

Being gluten-free limits going to italian restaurants and quite frankly, this sucks.  I am half italian from my dad's side of the family and love anything with tomato and mozzarella cheese. 

I first had this at a great italian restaurant in Chicago and knew I had to figure out the secret to eggplant without frying it.  I mastered it using flour, but didn't take the time to figure out a good gluten-free version.  Turns out, it wasn't as hard as I imagined. I added the figs as a special twist, because my husband loves them and they are in season right now. You can leave them out if you don't like them or can't find them.

I had found that corn meal was a great addition to the kitchen for corn bread and a few mexican dishes, but hadn't used corn flour.  It was really fine and easy to work with. I recommend Bob's Red Mill, Gluten-Free Corn Flour.  Personally, I like most of the gluten-free options from Bob's Red Mill.

Ingredients

Oven-Fried Eggplant

1 large Eggplant, peeled and slice, 1/4-1/2 inch thick (you will need 12 slices)

1 tablespoon Italian Seasoning, I use the Italian Herb Blend from The Spice House

1 cup corn flour, Gluten-Free, Bob's Red Mill

1 oz. Parmesan Cheese, Grated

2 large eggs, beaten

1 tablespoon heavy whipping cream

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/2 teaspoon Salt

Balsamic Reduction

8 medium figs, cut in half

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1/2 tablespoon granulated sugar

Assembly

2 cups Arugula

8 oz. Mozzarella cheese, Fresh, Whole Milk, 8 slices

2 large Tomato, beefsteak, 8 slices

Method

Eggplant

1. Coat rimmed baking sheet with olive oil

2. Peel and slice the eggplant into 1/4-1/2 inch slices (you will need 12 total slices)

3. Sprinkle eggplant slices with a little salt and let stand for 15 minutes to remove some of the moisture from the eggplant.  Pat dry with paper towel.

4. Blend corn flour, parmesan cheese, italian seasoning in bowl

5. Whisk eggs and heavy cream together in separate bowl

6. Dip eggplant slices into egg mixture, turning to coat

7. Transfer to flour mixture, coating well and place on baking sheet

8. Place baking sheet in oven and bake for 20 minutes at 325 degrees, turn to brown the other side and bake an additional 20 minutes

Balsamic Reduction 

1. Heat Balsamic, sugar and figs in saucepan over low heat.  

2. Remove Figs when soft (about 6-8 minutes)

3. Simmer Balsamic while eggplant continues baking. Stirring occasionally.

Assembly 

1. Put a small handful of arugula on plate, drizzle with about a teaspoon of balsamic reduction, place eggplant slice on arugula, top with mozzarella cheese slice, followed by tomato slice, repeat with eggplant, mozzarella, tomato and ending with eggplant.  

2. Drizzle with additional 1-2 teaspoons of balsamic and add a little more arugula

3. Place 4 fig halves on the plate

4. Cover entire plate with freshly grated parmesan cheese

5. Serve 

Servings: 4

Oven-Fried Eggplant Stack