Eggplant Parma-Schnitzel

[mojoman]

I wrote about a ovo-lacto veggie dinner I'm doing Saturday (thanks for those who had suggestions about the leek and potato soup ).

I'm doing some brainstorming and I'd like to do kind of a deconstructed Eggplant Parmesan, stealing from the ATK model.

I think I'll degorge eggplant slices, then flour, eggwash, and panko coat. Pan fry until nice and crispy. I might do the oven fry suggested in ATK...any thoughts about the difference between the two methods? I'm looking for a nice cruncy coat...like a schnitzel.

Then, I will make a tight, slightly spicy tomato sauce.

For the Parmesan element, I'm thinking about doing a frico (I think that's what Mario Batali called them, basically dry fried parmesan). I'll mold the hot fricos over a ramekin to form a cup. I'll serve the tomato sauce in the frico.

For the mozzarella element, I'm considering throwing the eggplant schnitzel into the oven with some shredded moz. I'm also wondering if I can somehow produce a disc of melted moz. Any other ideas?

Edited January 28, 2008 by mojoman (log)

[BeeZee]

I saw something on TV which really looked good, although I was in the kitchen prep'ing and couldn't catch all of it...basically the idea of the eggplant "schnitzels" then stacked on a plate with a nice slice of fresh, quivery, bufala mozzarella. Chunky tomato sauce almost as a garnish.

If the mozz is at room temp, and the eggplant is hot, might be a really nice texture when it sort of melts/softens into the eggplant.