Fried Aubergine Topped with Hummus and Tomatoes

I had my sights set on some fried chicken livers for dinner but when I opened my refrigerator, I saw an eggplant which I originally bought with the intention of making baba ghanouj so I changed my plan butthen I remembered that I still have some hummus from the other day. It did not make any sense for me to make another middle eastern dip when I still have some albeit different. BY then, fried chicken livers has long been forgotten and my attention shift to using the eggplant instead. I wanted Sicilian fried eggplant but it takes took much work and longer wait time. what with the salting, waiting for about 30 minutes, then rinsing the eggplant piece by piece, then frying...Ahh too much work. Hmmm, some breaded fried eggplant perhaps? Ha! that's what I end up doing...breaded the eggplants, then fry and topped...the taste was delish. The hummus added a nice flavor to the fried eggplant and tomato topping plus the added bonus of keeping the moisture from the tomato away from the eggplant which kept it crispy.


Ingredients:

1 large eggplant (use the oblong ones like epic or rosa bianca instead of the elongated variety), sliced into 1/2 inch thick rounds
1 cup all purpose flour
1tsp garlic powder
1 tsp italian seasoning blend
sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
3/4 cup bread crumbs
3/4 cup panko or corn meal
2 eggs, slightly beaten
oil for frying

1. Place flour, italian seasoning blend, garlic powder, salt and pepper (to taste) in a plate or bowl. Mix well
2. In another bowl/ plate, mix corn meal and bread crumbs. Mix well.
3. In a third bowl, place eggs andbeat lightly
4. Take 1 slice of eggplant and dredge in flour, remove excess. Dunk this in the beaten egg and then coat with bread crumb mixture.
5. Do this until all of the sliced eggplants has been coated.
6. Heat pan over medium heat and add oil.
7. When oil is hot, fry breaded eggplant. Fry only 2-3 eggplants at a time to prevent overcrowding your pan. NOTE:Be careful not to burn yourself. Use splatter guard to prevent oil from splattering all over you and your stove.
8. Cook until all sides has turned golden brown in color.
9. When cooked, remove gried eggplant from pan and transfer to a paper-towel lined plate to absorb excess oil.



Topping:

1 cup hummus ( recipe here)
2-3 roma tomatoes, seeds removed and discarded then diced finely
handful of Italian parsley, hand-torn
1/4 pine nuts
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1. While you are waiting for your eggplant to finish cook, prepare the tomato topping.
2. Mix tomatoes, pine nuts, and parsley.
3. Season with sea salt and freshly ground pepper according to taste.
4. Mix well and set aside until you finish frying the eggplant.

To Assemble:

Take a piece fo fried eggplant, apply a layer of hummus then spoon tomato topping over it. Transfer to a serving platter and enjoy.