Summer’s End: Roasted Eggplant with Tomatoes and Burrata

Oh glorious summer – how I hate to see you go (excessive heat, tornados, hurricanes and floods aside :-)). Summer is my season and as it slowly fades into fall, I want to squeeze every last bit out of these remaining warm days. My fridge is still packed with the last of the eggplant, zucchini and cukes from the farm market and a stack of heirloom tomatoes rest in a basket on my counter, begging to be used. So time to get cooking.

Luckily, company was coming unexpectedly for dinner and I needed a plan that didn’t involve me 1) coming in from the beautiful sunny day to 2) make a trip to the market. Eggplant and tomatoes to the rescue – and some burrata that I had in the fridge. And let’s be honest – everything is better with creamy burrata smothered on top.

This recipe couldn’t be simpler – basically I sliced the eggplant into fans, stuffed them with tomatoes and garlic and roasted them until the eggplant was deliciously tender and creamy and the tomatoes were melting into the eggplant. (Be sure to generously salt and pepper each slice so your eggplant is nicely seasoned.) When the eggplant was just out of the oven and still warm, I tore up the burrata and let it melt into creamy, heavenly goodness amongst the eggplant. Lastly to jazz things up a bit, I added some toasted parsley-lemon-zest-laced breadcrumbs for crunch along with some toasted pine nuts (completely optional).

Summer 2021 will soon be in the record books – for way too may less-than-optimal reasons – but I know I have emerged from all this as a different, better version of my pre-pandemic cooking self. One that doesn’t stress as much over things like company appearing even though the house isn’t all straightened up, one that is happy to just order take out and eat together around the table, one that doesn’t always fuss about having everything just right or planned in advance when company calls. Summer 2021 – you were a doozy but there are perhaps a few silver linings after all.

Buon appetito!

xoxo

Michele

Roasted Eggplant with Tomatoes and Burrata

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• Author: Michele Becci
• Yield: 4 1x

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Description

A simple roasted eggplant and tomato recipe to use up that end-of-summer bounty – made even better topped with creamy burrata.

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Ingredients

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For the topping:

• 1/3 cup pine nuts
• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, diced
• 1/3 cup plain breadcrumbs
• Zest of ½  lemon
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• ¼ cup parsley, chopped

For the eggplant:

• 2 large eggplants
• 3–4 large tomatoes, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, very thinly sliced
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Dried oregano

To serve:

• 2 medium or 1 large ball burrata
• Fresh parsley, chopped

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.

For the topping:

Heat the pine nuts in a small dry skillet over medium low heat.  Cook until the nuts are golden brown and fragrant, shaking the pan often, 2-3 minutes.  Remove from the heat and set aside.

In the same skillet, heat the olive oil over medium low heat. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add in the breadcrumbs and lemon zest. Add a healthy pinch of salt and a few grinds of black pepper.  Stir to combine. Continue stirring until the breadcrumbs are toasted, about 2 minutes. (Watch carefully as the breadcrumbs can burn easily!)

Remove from the heat and add the parsley.  Stir to combine.  Set aside.

Prepare the eggplant: 

On a cutting surface, slice the eggplants in half lengthwise. Lay each half flat side down. Using a sharp knife, cut each half into ‘fans’ by slicing lengthwise into 4 or 5 long pieces, leaving them intact at the stem end.

Drizzle a parchment-lined baking sheet with about a tablespoon of olive oil and lay the eggplant cut side down on the baking sheet, spreading out the fans.  Season each piece with salt and pepper.

Stuff each piece with slices of tomato and garlic.  Drizzle with more olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper and dried oregano.

Bake in the oven for about one hour or until the eggplant is very soft and tender.  (Note: Cooking time will vary based on the size of your eggplant.)

To serve:

Remove from oven.  Break up the burrata into smaller pieces and spread amongst the eggplant on the baking sheet.  Sprinkle everything with the reserved breadcrumbs, pine nuts, more chopped parsley and a healthy drizzle of olive oil.  Serve!