I love all the flavours that go into this. And the resulting towers were quite tasty and looked nice. But I found the assembly a bit cumbersome. I think they'd be just as delicious with everything piled onto a serving platter where everyone can dish up their own portions, rather than trying to assemble each one individually.

Fried Egg and Eggplant Towers

Slightly adapted from The Good Egg by Marie Simmons

Ingredients

• 6 (1cm thick) slices of peeled eggplant
• 4 Tbsp. olive oil, divided
• 6 (1cm thick) slices of tomato
• 1/2 tsp. coarse sea salt, divided
• black pepper, to taste
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 6 (5-6mm thick) slices fresh mozzarella
• 6 large eggs
• 1/3 c. fresh basil leaves, sliced fine (chiffonade)
• 1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar

Directions

1. Sprinkle ~1/4 tsp. of salt on the eggplant slices and set aside.
2. Heat 1 Tbsp. of the oil over medium-high heat.
3. Add the tomato and fry for ~1 minute on each side.
4. Remove from pan, sprinkle with ~1/4 tsp. of the salt and pepper to taste. Set aside¹.
5. Add the garlic to the pan and cook for 30-60 seconds.
6. Pour garlic oil over tomatoes.
7. Reduce heat to medium, add the eggplant to the pan, cover, and cook for a minute or two on each side.
8. Add 2 Tbsp. of oil and cook for another 2-3 minutes per side.
9. Remove from pan and set aside².
10. Reduce heat to medium-low and add 1-2 tsp. of the remaining oil.
11. Crack an egg into a cup and carefully pour it into the pan. Repeat with 2-3 more eggs.
12. Cook, uncovered, for 1 minute, then cover the pan and continue cooking for 4-6 minutes depending on how done you want your yolks.
13. If constructing individual egg towers: Place one slice of tomato on each plate (reserving tomato juices separately). Sprinkle with a little of the basil. Place a slice of eggplant on top and sprinkle with more basil. Place a slice of cheese on top of this, followed by one of the eggs. Otherwise, just transfer the eggs to the serving platter with everything else.
14. If constructing individual egg towers: Scrape the reserved tomato juices back into the pan, add the vinegar, and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Drizzle ~1 tsp. of the dressing over each egg tower.
    If making one big platter: Simply deglaze the pan with the vinegar and pour this over the eggs.
15. Sprinkle with a little more basil and serve.

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¹ If you'd like to make one big dish that everyone serves themselves from, then transfer the tomatoes straight from the pan to a serving platter. ^Back
2 If you're not doing individual portions, then the eggplant can just be piled on top of the tomatoes on the serving platter. ^Back