If you are an Italian food lover, it truly doesn’t get much better than this. These roasted eggplant and tomato stacks are probably one of the best appetizers/meals that I have come up with. The flavor combination of roasted eggplant stuffed with pesto, goat cheese and ripe tomato slices is absolutely decadent, and the vibrant coloring makes for a striking presentation.
To avoid watery eggplant, simply cut eggplant into 1/4″ thick slices and sprinkle with sea salt. The sea salt will help draw out the extra water so you don’t end up with a soggy dish. Let eggplant slices set for about 30 minutes, then blot water off with a paper towel. This recipe is enough for 1-2 people, so feel free to double everything but the pesto, as you should have plenty left over with the original recipe.
- 1 ripe medium tomato
- 1 medium eggplant cut into 1/4″ slices
- 1/4 cup goat cheese
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves + some reserved for topping
- 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 2 large garlic cloves; smashed and minced
- 3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Preheat oven to 400F
- Cut eggplant into 1/4″ slices (you will need 2 slices per each stack) and lightly salt. Let salted eggplant set for 30 minutes, then blot excess water off with a paper towel.
- When ready, place eggplant on a vented baking sheet, or a regular baking sheet lightly greased with a non-stick cooking spray, and drizzle tops of eggplant lightly with olive oil. I use a Misto oil spray bottle for finer application.
- Place eggplant in oven and cook for approximately 10-12 minutes or until eggplant begins to turn lightly golden. Flip eggplant over and cook for an additional 5-8 minutes.
- In a food processor, combine basil, olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Mix until you have a pesto-like mixture. Make sure you don’t over process as you don’t want mixture to be runny.
- When finished, set pesto aside and begin cutting tomatoes crosswise 1/4″ thick (you will need 2 tomato slices per stack).
- Remove eggplant from oven and top each with a light spread of pesto.
- Top half of the eggplant with goat cheese, then a tomato slice over that.
- Take the other half of eggplant topped with only pesto, and layer slices on top of eggplant topped with tomato. Top the top slice with goat cheese and another tomato slice, then add an additional sprinkle of goat cheese.
- Return finished stacks to oven and bake for about 15 minutes.
- Lightly top stacks with freshly cracked pepper and julienned basil before serving.