italian breakdown

Homegrown tomatoes still grace the shelves at the market though there is a distinct chill in the air. And while it’s not quite sweater weather I find myself craving comfort food. Time to figure out a way to bridge the seasons with a meal that is as comforting as cashmere but light enough to stand up to these last nights of Indian summer.

I adore eggplant. The same holds true for thick slices of sun ripe tomatoes. What better way to tie the two together than with creamy burrata cheese? Here is my rendition of a deconstructed eggplant parmesan. Your guests won’t believe these crispy rounds of eggplant are actually baked and not deep fat fried, making this entire dish surprisingly light and extraordinarily flavorful.

The key is coupling my recipe for baked eggplant with my burrata, tomato, and basil salad. Please note it’s essential that you use vine-ripe tomatoes. Those waxy, hard, pale-pink proxies simply won’t cut it.

First start off with the baked eggplant. Cut the eggplant into ¼” rounds

Toss the eggplant rounds with kosher salt in a large bowl.

Transfer to a colander over a bowl to drain. Let stand for at least 30 minutes and up to two hours. You want to make sure the eggplant releases at least two tablespoons of liquid.

Spread out a triple layer of paper towel, cover with a single layer of eggplant, top with another triple layer of paper towel. Press firmly releasing any excess liquid. Gently wipe remaining salt grains off the eggplant rounds.Meanwhile preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Place two heavy rimmed baking sheets on the middle and upper rack in he oven to heat them up.

In a pie plate combine the Panko breadcrumbs, Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.

In a large zip-loc bag combine flour with a teaspoon of pepper.

Beat the eggs and place in a second pie plate.

Once the eggplant is drained and dried place 8-10 slices in the bag with the flour, close and shake to coat. Remove the slices, shaking off excess flour, dip in egg, letting excess drip off, then coat evenly in Panko crumbs. Place coated rounds on a wire rack over a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining eggplant.

Remove the preheated rimed baking sheets from the oven. Add three tablespoons vegetable oil to each, tilting to evenly coat. Place half of the eggplant slices on each sheet in a single layer.

Bake until crisp and well browned for approximately thirty minutes total. (After ten minutes of the cooking time rotate and exchange place of baking sheets in oven. After twenty minutes flip the eggplant slices. Continue cooking until crisp and browned). Place on a clean wire rack. The eggplant can be made one hour in advance, keep on rack at room temperature, re-warm in a 350 degree oven for 5-10 minutes or until hot.

Next comes a double recipe of burrata, tomato and basil salad. Core and slice tripe tomatoes into ¼ inch slices.

Carefully slice burrata cheese into ¼ inch slices.

Place the tomato slices on a platter

Alternate with slices of burrata.

Sliver fresh basil.

Season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with slivered fresh basil.

To serve fan out three to four hot eggplant rounds and mirror with three tomato slices topped with creamy burratta and basil. This breakdown is guaranteed to get a AAA rating!