Eggplant Ricotta Bites- Appetizers August (2)

To start on an honest note, I have to say at first I wanted to cook eggplant rolls filled with ricotta, but I got really lazy and I tried to find a different solution. And I found an idea, obviously, on the Foodnetwork site.

This turned out to be perfect, because I had some gorgeous white eggplant, but it was a short fatty :), so not very suitable for rolls. That is why you can notice the slices are kind of big, not actually bite-size, but you get the picture, if you have guest coming over and your eggplants are normal size and shape you will get the perfect bites, delicious and fresh.

Let's get down to business! You will need to cut the eggplant into rather thin round slices and salt them.
To fry them you will need to put together 3 bowls: the first one with flour, the second one with 2 beaten eggs and the latter with 1 part grated parmesan and 3 parts breadcrumbs.

Heat up some oil in a skillet. To get your eggplant slices ready for frying, toss them in flour, then in the eggs, them in the parmesan-breadcrumbs mix. Fry them until they turn golden brown, about 1 minute to each side. They can burn pretty fast, so make sure you check. Also, I found it necessary to add more oil between batches.

After you have fried the eggplant slices, let them cool for a little bit on a paper towel, just enough so you can handle them, then place a dullop of ricotta on each slice.

While the eggplant is cooling a bit, chop 2 tomatoes, pour 1tbsp of olive oil and 1 tbsp vinegar over them, season with some salt and some chopped basil leaves.

Add the tomatoes on top of the slices and the cheese an garnish with some more basil. And you're done!
I like them both warm and cold, using the parmesan made this really savoury and the ricotta and tomatoes gave it the freshness that it needed. With some smaller slices you could get a really nice looking and light appetizer for your guests, but with a bigger eggplant I think you could serve/have them at brunch.

Enjoy,