Grilled Eggplant with Tomato and Feta (the famous over 10,000 repins recipe)

 Another recipe I found over at pinterest.

Grilled Eggplant with Tomato and Feta (the famous over 10,000 repins recipe).

Original Post

 So this pin highly intrigued me. Over 10,000 repins? Really? I guess I'll try it.

 I read through all the Comments/Suggestions/Tips....

• No measurement of olive oil
• Explanation - use your eyes
• Can you use a different cheese?
• The snooty author seems to deem this wrong but those who tried had good results
• Comments on cooking in general, not much on actual recipe

My trial:

• Didn't realize the "large" eggplant at my local Whole Foods would not be large enough
• Three tomatoes yielded too many tomato slices for the amount of eggplant my "large" eggplant produced
• Really really really try to make the slices as even as possible. I am not talented enough to do this.
• I left out my salted eggplant for 15 minutes on one side and another 15 minutes on another side on top of paper towels to capture the "wetness" that would come out of them. This resulted in a really dry eggplant. 
• Even at 400 degrees and more than the instructed 15 minutes, the cheese does not look like the picture. It doesn't melt or crisp up like that. 

This turned out kind of gross. I like eggplant, tomatoes, feta cheese and pesto-ish sauces. But because of the salted removal of water and then the grilling and then the baking, the eggplant came out like bark. It was dry and tasteless. Also, this didn't stick together. Once I got it on a plate, it just fell apart and became a salad. 

I will not be making this again. :( 

If you would like to try this recipe, here's my tips:

• Screw the salting part, just grill them
• Get a big eggplant or at least image how big your tomato is and ensure that the eggplant's width is equal to or greater than the tomato
• If you cannot do this, get a smaller tomato
• Try a cheese that actually melts a bit. It makes more sense to be a binder for the middle layers to be a melty cheese
• Maybe put toothpicks in the middle of the stacks in order to hold them in places vs getting a salad like I did
• I think a chimichurri sauce would be better but I like spicier meals. 

Recipe (source mazamag.com)

4 Servings

1 large eggplant
3 large tomatoes, to match the diameter of the eggplant
0.4 lbs Bulgarian feta, crumbled
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves
juice of half lemon
2 garlic cloves
½ extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper to taste

Cut of the eggplant crosswise into ½” thick rounds. Lightly season them with salt and leave them for 30 minutes on a side to let water to come out of the eggplant.

Once ready drizzle some olive oil on top of each slice and grill them on a lightly oiled grill rack for 2 -3 minutes each side.

Blend the basil leaves with 4 tablespoons olive oil, 2 garlic cloves, lemon juice and 1 teaspoon salt in an immersion blender until smooth.

Cut the tomatoes crosswise to 1/4” thick rounds.

Lightly oil the baking pan. Arrange 4 eggplant rounds side by side. Spread 1/2 tablespoon of the basil-garlic mixture on top of each one, then generously sprinkle feta crumbs. Top each with tomato rings. Add another layer of eggplant, basil spread, feta and tomato rounds and top with the rest of the crumbled feta.

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Drizzle some olive oil on top of each stack and bake for 15 minutes.