Caprese with grilled eggplant. It’s a summer, fresh and light recipe, perfect for any occasion, both as an appetizer and a light main course.
The heat has arrived, and a new African anticyclone is heating up our peninsula. The desire to turn on the stove is low, and we seek fresh and light dishes.
Summer gifts us eggplants, a basic ingredient of many typically Mediterranean preparations. For this recipe, I chose the variety called “Dark Round Eggplant.”
The round eggplant has a classic semi-spherical shape and a bright violet color (hence it is also called “round violet”), it has a sweet flesh with a tender consistency, sometimes reaching significant sizes and weighing up to 500 g (about 1.1 lbs); it can be consumed in various ways, such as sliced and then fried or grilled, or stuffed and baked.
Its flesh is quite sweet, so there’s no need to purge it beforehand, and it’s perfect for grilling unless it’s a bit overripe: in that case, it will have a pungent taste and many seeds inside. As happens with all other varieties of this vegetable.
With a few slices of eggplant, we can enrich the classic caprese made of tomato and mozzarella, making it even more tasty and colorful.
Thanks to its simple preparation, this recipe can be served in no time and is just as good as a side dish.
I made this dish because, suddenly, a couple of friends came by to visit, we sat on the terrace to chat, and in the end, decided to dine together.
I decided to cook something quick and practical. I had beautiful eggplants, cherry tomatoes, and buffalo mozzarella in the fridge. Bread and cold cuts are always on hand. Everything was seasoned with basil oil, and it was so delicious, guys, so good.
I used buffalo mozzarella, but fiordilatte works just fine.
Successful dinner. Shall we see how it’s made?
- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Inexpensive
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 5 People
- Cooking methods: Stovetop
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Spring, Summer
- Energy 382.95 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 13.07 (g) of which sugars 8.75 (g)
- Proteins 21.78 (g)
- Fat 27.82 (g) of which saturated 13.62 (g)of which unsaturated 6.73 (g)
- Fibers 4.14 (g)
- Sodium 1,605.22 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 180 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for Caprese with Grilled Eggplant
- 2.2 lbs eggplants
- 9 oz cherry tomatoes
- 3 mozzarella (either buffalo or fiordilatte)
- 1 bunch basil
- Half clove garlic (optional)
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
- to taste salt
Tools
- Grill
- Colander
- Paper Towel
- Blenders
Steps for Caprese with Grilled Eggplant
Start by washing the eggplants well under running water. Remove the ends of the eggplants and slice them to about half an inch thick. You can keep or peel the skin as you prefer.
Salt the eggplants for 10 minutes and let them sweat.
After the salting time, rinse the eggplant slices under running water to remove excess salt.
Gently dry them with paper towels.
Place the eggplant slices on the hot grill and let them cook for about 2-3 minutes per side, until charred grill marks appear on the surface.
(You can lightly brush the eggplant slices with more olive oil during cooking if desired).
Once cooked, start assembling the dish, placing grilled eggplants at the base.
Cut the cherry tomatoes in half and add them on top of the grilled eggplants. Also add slices of buffalo mozzarella or fiordilatte.
Chop the basil with half a clove of garlic, removed its core, and add plenty of extra virgin olive oil.
(Blending the basil leaves with garlic and oil).
Mix well and distribute the dressing over the eggplant caprese.
Enjoy your meal.
Tips
If you want to prepare the Caprese with Eggplants in advance, I recommend keeping the ingredients separate and assembling the dish at the last moment. Tomatoes and mozzarella tend to release a lot of water, compromising the dish’s presentation.
If you don’t like garlic, don’t add it; it will still be delicious.
Storage
As mentioned above, the Caprese Salad with Eggplants is not suitable for storage.
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