The eggplant sandwiches with tomato and mozzarella are a tasty and scenic appetizer that you can prepare with a few simple steps and customize as you like, choosing among different cooking methods for the eggplants: I used golden fried eggplants, but for a lighter recipe you can also opt for roasted eggplants, grilled eggplants, or breaded baked eggplants. The eggplants are layered with slices of tomato and mozzarella and stacked to form a sort of club sandwich. At this point, to melt the mozzarella, you can choose to use the traditional oven or the microwave: in both cases it will take just a few minutes to bring to the table a tasty and original appetizer, perfect for a summer dinner!
You may also be interested in:
- Difficulty: Very easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Preparation time: 30 Minutes
- Portions: 4Pieces
- Cooking methods: Oven, Microwave
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Spring, Summer and Autumn
Ingredients for 4 eggplant sandwiches
- 12 slices eggplants (fried, or grilled or roasted)
- 2 tomatoes
- 3.5 oz mozzarella
- 1 pinch salt
- to taste basil
Tools
- 1 Cutting board
- 1 Knife
- 1 Plate microwave safe
- 1 Microwave
- 4 Toothpicks
How to prepare the eggplant sandwiches with tomato and mozzarella
To prepare the eggplant sandwiches with tomato and mozzarella first you need to cook the eggplant slices: you can fry them golden (1), as I did, following this recipe. Alternatively, you can grill them, or roast them in the oven. Wash the tomato and slice it thinly (2). Also slice the mozzarella thinly (3) and let it drain so it is not too watery (3).
Take an eggplant slice and top it with a tomato slice (4). Lightly salt it and add a slice of mozzarella and a basil leaf (5). Cover with another eggplant slice (6).
Also fill this layer with tomato, a pinch of salt, a slice of mozzarella, and a basil leaf (7). Close with another eggplant slice and secure the sandwich with a wooden toothpick (8).
Continue the same way for the other three eggplant sandwiches. At this point, if you choose to use the traditional oven, place the sandwiches on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake them at 392°F for 5-6 minutes, just long enough for the mozzarella to melt slightly. If instead you use the microwave, place the eggplant sandwiches on a microwave-safe plate and cook them at 200 W for about 2 minutes. In this case too, it is enough for the mozzarella to be melted (9). Serve the eggplant sandwiches with tomato and mozzarella immediately, as a tasty and unusual appetizer.
Storage
If there are leftovers, you can store the eggplant sandwiches in the refrigerator for a couple of days and briefly warm them in the oven or microwave before serving.
Tips and Variations
With the same recipe, you can prepare zucchini sandwiches using round zucchinis.
