Spicy Eggplant Mozzarella Bites are super scrumptious – great as an appetizer at a party or as a side dish or main dish. Everybody loves these.
Here’s an appetizer/side dish that is incredibly scrumptious – totally satisfying. It’s easy to make – the most time consuming part is frying up the eggplant in a skillet. You have to do it in batches (or use 2 skillets at once).
Do you want to serve them at a party? Maybe on a buffet? Here’s the trick for that: You can fry them up a day ahead of time, drain them on paper towels and then cover them or put them in a plastic container and store them in the fridge. Then a half hour before serving, preheat the oven to 400° and cook them about 5 minutes so they get crunchy again. Remove them from oven, top with chiles and mozzarella, and pop them into the oven again for 5-8 minutes or until mozzarella melts. Then top with diced tomatoes and serve. Works great.
These still taste really good after they sit, even though they lose their crunchiness. But they are especially good when they’re still crunchy. Yum! Hope you like these!
- 1 medium eggplant
- Salt
- All-purpose flour, for dredging
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup Italian breadcrumbs
- ½ tsp dark chili powder
- ¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil (about)
- ¼ cup diced green chiles
- 1½ cup diced tomatoes (~2 large plum tomatoes)
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar or balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp McCormick Bruschetta Oregano & Basil seasoning (optional)
- 1½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese
- Thinly slice the eggplant into about ¼ inch rounds and lightly salt. Pour some flour into a shallow dish. Beat the eggs in another dish. In a third dish, mix the breadcrumbs, parmesan, and chili powder. Dredge the eggplant in the flour, then dip in the eggs, and coat with the breadcrumb mixture. Set aside on a large plate.
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large nonstick skillet. Working in batches, cook the eggplant over medium heat until golden, 2-3 minutes per side, wiping off crumbs with a paper towel and adding more oil between batches as necessary. Drain on paper towels.
- Note: At this point you can store the eggplant in a covered container for a few hours up to a day in the fridge, then proceed with the next steps about a half hour before serving.
- Put the diced tomatoes in a medium bowl, add 1 tbsp red wine vinegar, 1 tbsp olive oil, and 1 tbsp McCormich Bruschetta seasoning (optional ). Blend and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 400°. Place the eggplant rounds on a cookie sheet. If you'd like them crunchier, bake 5 minutes to crisp them up, then remove from oven, top with diced green chiles and shredded mozzarella, and return to oven. (If already crunchy enough, just top with the chiles and mozzarella right away.)
- Bake until mozzarella is melted & remove from oven.
- Top with the diced tomatoes and serve. Enjoy!
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