Grilled Eggplant Napoleon

At our wedding, we had this incredible appetizer described as a "Grilled Eggplant Napoleon"which everyone raved about....and it was one of my favorite things served that night.  Since then, I have been on a mission to figure out exactly what the components of this dish were.  I went so far as to email the man in charge of planning our wedding to see if he could ask the chef how he made it....I know...maybe a bit much, but it was THAT good.  So finally, after weeks of searching the internet for ideas of how to make this dish, I finally just took the plunge and took a guess and made my version of it. Eggplant Sazoleon...on second thought, that sounds like a disease...let's just stick with the original name....

Grilled Eggplant Napoleon

(serves 4-5 people)

1 Eggplant

10.5 oz Goat Cheese

10 Sundried Tomatoes

2 tbsp. Fat Free Milk

Fresh Basil

1/2 cup Balsamic Vinegar

1 tbsp Sugar

Pepper

 > In a food processor, whip together the Goat Cheese, Sundried Tomatoes, and milk.  You want it so that it's a spreadable consistency (if you feel it's too thick, you can add more milk).

 > With a Mandolin (or knife) slice your Eggplant into 1/4 inch thick slices (this should yield about 25 slices per Eggplant).

 > On a non-stick griddle, cook your eggplant so that it's completely cooked through. Flip them often so as to cook them evenly.  Once they're done, set them on a plate to cool completely.

 > While your eggplants are cooking, chop up some fresh basil (I can almost smell it just talking about it!) Let's face it, there's nothing that smells better than fresh basil....

 > Now to assemble your Napoleon!  You want to make sure your eggplant is completely cooled to room temperature and that your cheese mixture is super soft to spread.  Lay down a slice of eggplant, then smooth over that, a thin layer of your cheese mixture.  Do this so that there are 5 layers of eggplant.  Don't over-do it on the cheese since it's got such a strong flavor, you don't want to over power the eggplant.

> Sprinkle some of your fresh basil on top.

> Now you have to make a Balsamic Reduction.  So in a small pot, add your balsamic and sugar, cook at a high heat, but so that it's ALMOST boiling.  Cook for almost 10 minutes stirring often, until it become the consistency of honey.  Sprinkle that over the Napoleon.  Add some freshly black pepper if you'd like too.

 This is an extremely impressive looking dish - and is great as an appetizer (especially to start off a good Italian meal!) In the dish we had at our wedding, the chef removed the skin of the eggplant which was a nice touch since that can be a little tough to cut through with a knife.

Below is the photo of the wedding appetizer! I loved how it was cut into a perfect rectangular form and served with a mozzarella salad.  My version wasn't exactly the same as our wedding's, but I must say the tastes were almost completely spot on! It was a delicious dish and one that I think would be great to serve to guests for a "wow" factor!

Enjoy!