Eggplant baked with tomato and mozzarella
4 servings
45 minutes
This delightful recipe for baked eggplants with tomatoes and mozzarella is an ode to the simplicity and elegance of Russian cuisine. The eggplants, freed from bitterness, acquire softness and rich flavor, harmonizing with the sweet-sour notes of fresh tomatoes. The delicate mozzarella adds a creamy texture, while the aromatic garlic sauce with tarragon gives the dish a noble touch. Baked in the oven, the vegetables become juicy and appetizing, while a light cheese crust creates an enticing contrast. This dish is perfect as a light dinner or festive appetizer. It pairs wonderfully with spaghetti, pasta, or fresh bread. Russian cuisine is renowned for its warmth, and this recipe is a true embodiment of comfort and gastronomic pleasure.
1
So, you bought great eggplants and tomatoes, and also grabbed mozzarella, not forgetting young garlic and tarragon. First, slice the eggplants into rounds 0.7-1 cm thick as in the picture and place them in a pot of very salty water for 20-30 minutes. This will remove all possible bitterness from the eggplants.
- Eggplants: 1 kg
- Tomatoes: 1 kg
- Mozzarella cheese: 250 g
- Finely chopped garlic: 3 cloves
- Tarragon: 3 stems
- Sesame oil: 2 tablespoons
2
While the eggplants cool, preheat the oven to 200°C. You can grease the baking tray or dish with vegetable or butter. Or you can skip greasing if the coating is ceramic.
- Sesame oil: 2 tablespoons
3
While all this is happening (the eggplants are getting rid of bitterness and the oven is heating up), deal with the garlic: finely chop three cloves, place them in a small container like a sauce dish, and pour in two tablespoons of fragrant oil – it can be extra virgin olive oil or sesame oil, or whatever you have on hand.
- Finely chopped garlic: 3 cloves
- Sesame oil: 2 tablespoons
4
Garlic is good to buy at the market – right now it's young. I always get it at the Moskvoretsky market near the Nakhimovsky Prospekt metro, there's no such aromatic garlic anywhere else in Moscow (see photo).
5
Finely chop a couple of tarragon sprigs and add them to the garlic with oil. Let them infuse, enriching the oil with noble flavors. Tarragon should be fresh, preferably from the market.
- Tarragon: 3 stems
6
Now wash the beautiful tomatoes and remove their stems. It's probably unnecessary to say that greenhouse tomatoes are not needed. Right now (in May) is the time for local tomatoes from nearby countries. They are available at the Moskvoretsky market. So, slice these beautiful tomatoes into circles half as thick as the eggplant slices (0.3-0.5 cm). You will need as many of them as eggplant slices, preferably of similar size.
- Tomatoes: 1 kg
7
Place the eggplants on a baking sheet, then brush them on the outside with our magical tarragon-garlic sauce (how generously to brush is to taste), place a slice of tomato on each eggplant wheel, and top with a piece of mozzarella (preferably round).
- Eggplants: 1 kg
- Tomatoes: 1 kg
- Mozzarella cheese: 250 g
- Sesame oil: 2 tablespoons
8
Put everything in the oven for 30 minutes. In the last 10 minutes, you can lower the temperature to 160°C. When you see the cheese browning and bubbling, you can try one piece of eggplant.
9
You can cook spaghetti, pasta, or even macaroni as a side dish!
10
Garnish your dish with one or more sprigs of tarragon. Enjoy your meal!
- Tarragon: 3 stems
11
P.S. The step-by-step recipe is shown in the photographs.