Fried Eggplant and Mozzarella with a Roasted Marinara Dipping Sauce

In addition to the field tomatoes the eggplants or aubergines are also in season. Each time I walk by them in the farmers market they seem to call my name and since I have a nice long list of eggplant recipes to try so I picked some up. The first on my to try list was these fried eggplant appetizers from The Culinary Chase that I had bookmarked a long time ago and I had been waiting for eggplant season to return to try. These appetizers are basically two thinly sliced pieces of eggplant that sandwich a thin slice of fresh mozzarella and leaf of basil. The eggplant and mozzarella sandwiches are then breaded and fried until golden brown and crispy. I am not so great at cutting things uniformly and thinly so I pulled out my mandolin and it did a great job of it. Eggplants can sometimes be bitter so it is always a good idea to salt them to draw out the bitterness, though make sure that you don't forget to rinse the salt off. The fried mozzarella eggplant sandwiches were pretty easy to assemble and the most challenging part was the deep frying. They came out nice and golden brown and crispy on the outside and were and soft and gooey on the inside. I really liked the fact that the exposed mozzarella around the edges also fried up nice an crispy ans it is hard to beat crispy fried cheese! I served the fried eggplant with a tasty roasted tomato version of a simple marinara sauce though there are a lot of tasty tomato sauces that would go really well with this fried eggplant.

Fried Eggplant and Mozzarella with a Roasted Marinara Dipping Sauce

(make 4 appetizer sized servings)
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 eggplant (thinly sliced)
coarse salt
1 pound fresh mozzarella (thinly sliced)
basil leaves
1/2 cup flour
1 large egg (lightly beaten)
1 cup bread crumbs
oil for frying

Directions:
1. Sprinkle the salt onto the eggplants slices and let rest for 20 minutes.
2. Rinse the salt from the eggplant slices and pat them dry.
3. Form sandwiches out of 2 slices of eggplant with a slice of mozzarella and a basil leaf in the middle.
4. Dredge the eggplant sandwiches in the flour.
5. Dip them into the egg and then in the bread crumbs to coat.
6. Fry in oil until golden brown, about 2-4 minutes each.
7. Cut into four and serve with a tasty tomato sauce.

Sauces to serve it with:
Arrabiata Sauce
Puttanesca Sauce
Marinara Sauce
Roasted Tomato and Gorgonzola Sauce

Similar Recipes:
Eggplant and Mozzarella Panini
Parmesan Crusted Baked Zucchini Sticks with Marinara Sauce
Eggplant Parmesan (Melanzane di Parmagiana)
Eggplant Parmesan (Lasagna Style)
Arancini di Riso (Rice Balls)
Crispy Baked Portobello Mushroom Fries
Crispy Baked Eggplant Fries with Marinara Dipping Sauce (aka Eggplant Parmesan Fries!)