Eggplant tower with scamorza, pesto and fresh tomatoes
Eggplant slices layered with fresh tomatoes, flavoursome pesto and smoked scamorza, a traditional cheese from Italy with a strong and aromatic taste! A light dish from the Mediterranean cuisine, prepared without a lot of work and full of fresh vegetables and vitamins.
eggplant
You should eat three portions of vegetables a day, which is probably not easy for you either! This recipe will help you to fill your vegetable store, because after this dish you have already achieved two out of three.
Aubergines contain very few calories and are therefore the perfect basis for a healthy and light diet. They are often used in Mediterranean cuisine because they are easy to prepare and harmonize very well with spices and herbs.
Because of their enormously high water content, the aubergines should be soaked in salt for 10 to 30 minutes before processing. The salt draws the water out of the vegetables and thus ensures a slightly crisp, not too watery consistency.
scamorza cheese
Scamorza is an Italian cheese made from cow’s milk, which is boiled in hot water and then smoked. This process gives the cheese a slightly smoky taste and a almost creamy consistency. Smoked scamorza is usually sold as small balls or already sliced. Even if the scamorza has an incomparable taste, you may be able to replace it with mozzarella.
pesto
Pesto is a herbal paste that is often used as a sauce for pasta. But due to the enormously strong taste, you can add a last highlight to many dishes by adding a little pesto.
Pesto originally comes from Genova in Italy and is traditionally made from pecorino (Parmesan-like sheep’s cheese), basil, pine nuts and high-quality olive oil. Pesto can be found in every supermarket these days, even if the ingredients have usually been slightly modified.
From these simple ingredients a round tower is stacked, made up of different layers: first a fried slice of eggplant, then a slice of scamorza cheese and two slices of fresh tomatoes, seasoned with a little pesto.
These steps are repeated and then topped with a last slice of fried eggplant. The stacked tower is placed in the oven for a short timeto melt the cheese and combine it with the other ingredients.
If you try the recipe, I would be pleased if you give me feedback and of course I am available for questions. Should you share the recipe or your homemade dish with your friends on social media, I would be very grateful if you would link me (Instagram @flavour. dreams) and set the hashtag #flavourdreams.
Eggplant tower with scamorza cheese, pesto and fresh tomatoes
Ingredients
- 1 eggplant sliced into 0,3 cm thick slices
- olive oil
- 2 tomatoes sliced into 0,3 cm thick slices
- 8 thin slices scamorza cheese or alternatively mozzarella
- 200 g pesto bought or selfmade
- 1 tbsp chopped parsley
Instructions
- Sprinkle some rough salt over the eggplant slices and let it soak for 10 to 30 minutes to reduce the water content in the eggplant.
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius or 392 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Fry the eggplant slices in a saucepan with some olive oil until golden brown.
- Then start to stack the tower: first an eggpplant slice, then a slice of cheese, two slices of fresh tomatoes and a little pesto.
- Repeat this step and finish the tower with one last eggplant slice. Put the tower in the oven for 8 minutes to melt the cheese.
- Serve the eggplant tower with some olive oil, a little bit of pesto and chopped parsley. If you want to make a high tower, easily stack two finished towers one upon the other.
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