The eggplant pastries with mozzarella and puff pastry are a perfect appetizer, but also a fun idea for a casual dinner with friends. If you have an eggplant in the fridge and two rolls of puff pastry, try these eggplant and mozzarella puff pastries — they are very easy and, most of all, super tasty!
As you know, puff pastry can always be used to prepare tempting recipes and eggplant pastries are a clever and delicious way to bring an easy but original appetizer to the table. To prepare these puff pastry parcels filled with eggplant, you only need to fry or grill an eggplant and use it in the filling, together with some mozzarella or provola and a little tomato sauce. Let’s go to the kitchen — I’ll explain step by step how to prepare an impressive appetizer, but with simplicity!
First, take a look at the recipes for puff pastry mini pizzas topped with eggplant and Sicilian-style fried breaded eggplant cutlets, golden and crispy.
If you want to stay updated on all my recipes, you can follow my Facebook page (here) and my Instagram profile (here).
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very inexpensive
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 6
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Spring, Summer
Ingredients
- 2 rolls puff pastry (rectangular)
- 1 eggplant (medium)
- 2/3 cup crushed tomatoes
- 1 1/3 cup mozzarella for pizza (or provola)
- to taste salt
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- to taste breadcrumbs
- (Sunflower oil for frying the eggplant)
Tools
- Oven
- Baking tray
- Cookie cutter 4 in
- Pastry brush kitchen
Steps
Rinse the eggplant, remove the ends and slice it into slices about 3/8 inch thick. Sprinkle a pinch of salt on both sides of each slice, arrange them on a plate and let rest for 20 minutes. After this time the eggplant slices will have released some of their moisture; pat them very well with kitchen paper and fry them by immersing them in already hot oil (dip the tip of a toothpick into the oil — if it makes lots of bubbles you can start frying).
Cook the eggplant slices, turning them occasionally, and when they are nicely golden place them on paper that can absorb the excess oil.
As an alternative to frying, you can also grill them on a cast-iron griddle and add a drizzle of oil at the end of cooking, or brush them with olive oil and bake them for 15 minutes in a convection oven at 392°F, turning halfway through.
Season the tomato sauce with salt and a drizzle of oil; if you have it, add some torn basil.
Let the fried eggplants cool, then unroll the puff pastry and begin assembling the pastries.
With two rolls of puff pastry you can make six large pastries or eight small ones.
Arrange the eggplant slices on the puff pastry roll so that you can get 6 or 8 pastries — that is, 3 or 4 slices per pastry, well spaced from each other.
Spread a little tomato sauce on each slice, add some pizza mozzarella (which releases less water) or, alternatively, use sweet provola or any other melty cheese you like. Finish with a sprinkle of breadcrumbs (you can lightly dust a bit to absorb some of the mozzarella’s moisture).
Cover with the other roll of puff pastry, press the two layers together well in the parts without filling and cut with cookie cutters about 3 or 4 in in diameter.
Use the leftover pieces to make decorations.
Seal the edges by folding the margins inward, brush with beaten egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds.
Bake in a convection oven at 356°F for 20 minutes or until the desired golden color is reached.
Remove from the oven, let cool slightly and serve.
If you have leftover puff pastry scraps, brush them with beaten egg, sprinkle with sesame seeds, add a few grains of salt and bake at the same temperature until nicely golden. Remove the small salted pastries from the oven and enjoy them as a snack.
If you liked this recipe, also check out:
–Covered puff pastry tart with eggplant, tomato and cheese;
–Puff pastry with eggplant, ham and mozzarella;
–Meatloaf in a crust with fried eggplant;
From here, you can return to the HOME and discover new recipes!
