Say Hello to Delicious

Written by Bakersfield Magazine

Every Bakersfield resident has a favorite dish at Uricchio’s. After all, the menu is chock full of amazing Italian delicacies.

For this issue’s Quick Bites With Local Flavor, we asked Claire Uricchio-Porter and the talented chefs at Uricchio’s to whip us something not on the menu that would be easy for folks at home to make. It also had to include a few local ingredients and, most importantly, be delicious. Well, say hello to delicious. The Eggplant Tower is perfect for any meal...the catch is that you’ll want to eat it for every meal.

Eggplant Tower

• Breadcrumbs
• Eggs
• Pesto
• Eggplant
• Goat cheese
• Sun-dried tomatoes
• Alfredo sauce or Marinara sauce (optional)

For Pesto

• 2 cups basil
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 3 cloves of garlic

Directions

Start by making the pesto. It’s simple! Just add all ingredients into a food processor and blend until smooth. Set aside.

Next, crack a few eggs into a shallow dish. Cut eggplant into 1/4-inch to 1/2-inch slices, dip in egg, then coat in breadcrumbs. Fry each slice in olive oil.

Here’s where you can get creative with presentation. Use Alfredo sauce, marinara sauce, and pesto to decorate your serving dish. You can drizzle on the plate or create three separate sauce sections.

When the plate is ready, start your eggplant tower by laying one slice of fried eggplant down, then spoon on some pesto. Next, you’ll crumble some goat cheese onto the pesto and top with sun-dried tomatoes. Repeat this process two more times. Top with sun-dried tomatoes and pine nuts. Yum!

Article appeared in our 28-5 Issue - December 2011