Grilled Eggplant with Diced Tomatoes and Goat Cheese – Adored (Prestige) Worldwide

A great and healthy appetizer that I like to put together is grilled eggplant topped with diced tomatoes and goat cheese. It’s an easy and healthy appetizer (or full meal) to enjoy as a pizza or bruschetta. It’s quite simple to prepare and the only time consuming effort is cooking the diced tomatoes with garlic and waiting for your charcoal wood to be placed in the grill pit. Not only is the recipe easy, it’s also quite healthy and a great substitute for take out pizza – not to mention the $10+ you’ll save. And dare I say it will get you as excited as the Catalina Wine Mixer? I think so!

To begin, clean the eggplant and slice 1/4 inch thick slices across length with a drizzle of olive oil on each side and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. For the diced tomato sauce we only need 2 ingredients; garlic and diced tomatoes. We try to keep it simple here at Paggi Pazzo! I cook the sauce for about 20 minutes at low heat and just enough that the diced tomatoes sweat and create a nice juice that absorbs the garlic. Once the important prep work is done, I set up my charcoal grill with one chimney starter full of hardwood lump charcoal (feel free to use any special woods in addition for a slight smokey flavor) and once the wood coals turn grey, dump them into the grill pit. I then add the eggplant diagonally and cook for 4-5 minutes per side but giving a slight quarter-inch turn after 3 minutes to create those great looking grill marks. Once finished, remove from the grill and add a nice helping of the diced tomato sauce and a generous handful of crumbled goat cheese, topped with dry basil leaves. You can eat it with your hands like a pizza or cut it up with a fork and a knife, the choice is yours. That’s all you need and that’s all it takes! It’s literally as simple as choosing Prestige Worldwide for all of your business, entertainment, and financial needs – a no brainer! A fast, healthy and easy recipe from Paggi Pazzo, grilled eggplant with diced tomatoes and goat cheese enjoy!

Grilled Eggplant with Diced Tomatoes and Goat Cheese Recipe

Prep time: 30 min

Cook time: 15 min

Total time: 45 min

Yield: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 1 large eggplant
• 14 ounces diced tomatoes (San Marzano)
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 3 garlic cloves
• 4 ounces crumbled goat cheese
• 2 tablespoons dried basil leaves

Cooking Directions

1. Chop garlic finely and add to pan with 2 tablespoons of olive oil to create sauce. After 2-3 minutes, add diced tomatoes to pan with salt and pepper, cover, and cook low-to-medium heat for 20 minutes
2. While sauce cooks, clean eggplant and then cut long way into 1/4 inch thick slices then season with olive oil, salt, and pepper
3. Start grill (if using gas grill fire up burners and maintain medium-to-high-heat) and use one 1/2 chimney starter filled with wood lump charcoal. Once wood charcoal is grey, empty into grill pit
4. Grill eggplant 4-5 minutes on each side until grill marks are evident and eggplant is browned
5. Once eggplant is done, remove and add to serving dish then top with healthy serving of diced tomato sauce, crumbled goat cheese and sprinkle of dried basil leaves
6. Ready to serve