Ingredients
- 2 Italian eggplants, peeled, cored and sliced in half lengthwise (about 1 pound)
- 1 teaspoon rock salt
- freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil
- 1/3 cup olive oil, divided
- 2 pounds medium tomatoes on the vine (about 8 pieces)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 small shallot, finely diced
- 2 tablespoons capers, chopped
- 1 tablespoon chopped marjoram
- 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar
- 1 cup stracciatella
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Chef notes
This elegant appetizer transforms fresh vegetables using classically French cooking techniques. It is affordable, light, healthy, summery and very tasty.
Technique tip: Salt the eggplant ahead and let it sit for 40 minutes to draw out the excess moisture. For a concentrated tomato flavor, dry some of the tomatoes halfway in the oven.
Swap option: Use any variety of tomato that is ripe at the market.
Preparation
For the roasted eggplant:
1.Preheat oven to 300 F.
2.Slice the eggplant and salt each slice with the rock salt. Let sit for around 40 minutes to draw out the moisture.
3.Brush off the excess salt and place on a parchment-lined baking tray. Bake in the oven for around 15 to 20 minutes, until tender. Remove from the oven and let cool.
4.Roughly chop the eggplant into a large dice and season with pepper, chopped basil and 1 tablespoon of olive oil.
For the tomato tartare:
1.Bring a medium pot of water to a boil.
2.While the eggplants are salted and resting, peel the tomatoes by gently scoring an "X" on the bottom, coring them and dropping them inside the boiling water. Poach them until the skin starts to come off the tomatoes, around 30 seconds to 1 minute. Scoop them out of the pot and chill them in ice water then finish peeling each tomato completely.
3.Take half of the tomatoes and cut them in half or quarters depending on the size, remove the seeds and lay them, spaced out, on a baking tray. Drizzle with some olive oil, salt and pepper, and bake in the oven for around 40 minutes, or until they are halfway dry (you can do this step ahead).
4.Take the remaining tomatoes, de-seed them and cut them into a small dice.
5.Combine them in a bowl with the chopped shallots, capers and marjoram, and season with season with the sherry vinegar, salt, pepper and olive oil.
6.When the oven-dried tomatoes are ready, cool them and cut them into a small dice. Add them to the tomato tartare mix.
For the stracciatella:
Combine stracciatella in a mixing bowl with the olive oil, salt and pepper. Stir until combined.
To assemble:
1.Lay a football-shaped ring mold in the center of each large plate and spoon an even layer of the eggplant into each. If you do not have a mold, simply spoon it freely into an oval shape.
2.Top the eggplant with the tomato tartare and garnish with some small basil leaves on top.
3.Remove the ring and spoon the stracciatella mix along one on one side of the plate. Drizzle with some fresh olive oil.
