Grilled Eggplant Stacks With Tomato and Feta

This is similar to my Eggplant with Tomato-Mint Sauce and Goat Cheese recipe, but here I create individual stacks with grilled eggplant slices.  This is from a Gourmet Magazine recipe, August 2005.  They suggest tapered eggplants and a mix of large and medium tomatoes will give your stacks a more graceful appearance.


4 servings

Olive oil

4 teaspoons prepared pesto
2 medium eggplants (enough for 12 slices 1/4" thick)

1 large tomato (about 4 inches in diameter) and

2 medium tomatoes (about 2 1/2 inches in diameter)
3 oz feta, crumbled (about 3/4 cup)

Garnish: finely shredded fresh basil leaves

Prepare grill for cooking over moderate heat or turn on oven broiler.

While grill heats, cut off bottoms of eggplants, then cut 12 (1/4" thick) crosswise rounds. Reserve any remaining eggplant for other use. Cut 4 (1/3-inch-thick) rounds from large tomato and 2 center slices (1/3 inch thick) from each medium tomato, reserving remaining tomato for another use.

Lightly brush eggplant rounds on both sides with olive oil and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Grill on a lightly oiled grill rack, covered if using a gas grill, turning over occasionally, lightly brushing eggplant with more oil occasionally if it looks dry, until eggplant is very tender, 6 to 10 minutes. (Leave gas grill on.)  If broiling, turn once, then set oven to bake at 450.

On baking pan, arrange 4 largest eggplant rounds side by side and spread each with a generous 1/2 teaspoon of pesto, then top each with the largest tomato rounds. Season tomatoes with salt and pepper and top each with about 1 tablespoon feta. Make another layer with medium-size eggplant rounds, pesto, medium tomato rounds, salt, pepper, and feta, then top with remaining eggplant and feta.

Set baking pan on grill and cook stacks with grill covered about 3 minutes or in oven at 450 about 8 minutes, until heated through and cheese on top is softened. Transfer stacks to 4 plates and drizzle plates with olive oil.