As soon as I made this dish, I looked at the end result and thought, "It's a Whoopie Pie!" As I dearly adore them, this added to the pleasure of eating this dish, so I'll always think of this as eggplant Whoopie Pie. I enjoyed this recipe, as did my husband. However, he said that it reminded him of a souffle, and he's not crazy about them. So, he liked it, but it wasn't substantial enough for him. I loved it (I like souffles). This was very quick to make. In fact, have everything ready because once you start cooking, it all goes like the wind.
The dish has great contrasting tastes of sweet tomato sauce, crunchy panko crust, soft eggplant and creamy goat cheese. The tomato sauce has the surprise seasoning of tarragon, rather than the expected sweet basil. It adds a sweet anise flavor that makes the dish distinctive. Of course, you could substitute the basil, but I will always make this with the tarragon. I offer this wonderful recipe for Weekend Herb Blogging, which was created by the amazing Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen. This week WHB is being hosted by one of my favorite bloggers, Susan at Food Blogga. Go to her excellent site and see the Roundup of herby recipes by bloggers around the world.
This is a very fast, simple dish to make. Have everything assembled and keep a steady eye on the eggplant as you fry it. It browns quickly, barely 1 minute per side. I came periously close to having my skillet catch on fire when oil splashed onto the burner, as I laid in a breaded eggplant slice. But, why not a little drama? It was worth it.
I also made a few without the top layer of eggplant. Delicious!
By the way, is it spelled Whoopee or Whoopie Pie? (Because it's very important to know.)
Eggplant and Goat-Cheese Sandwiches with Tomato Tarragon Sauce
(Food & Wine)
Serves 4
INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
3 cups fresh or canned crushed tomatoes in thick puree (one 28-ounce can)
1 teaspoon fresh tarragon
1- 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
1 cup dry bread crumbs (I used plain Panko)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
2 eggplants, peeled and cut to make sixteen 1/2-inch-thick slices in all
4 eggs, beaten to mix
Cooking oil, for frying
1/2 pound mild goat cheese, such as Montrachet, cut into 8 rounds
DIRECTIONS
1. In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over moderately low
heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent,
about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, tarragon, 3/4 teaspoon of the salt,
and the sugar and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 25 minutes. Stir
in 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper.
2. Meanwhile, heat the oven to 350°. In a medium bowl, combine
the bread crumbs, Parmesan, and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4
teaspoon pepper.
3. Dip each slice of eggplant in the eggs and then in the
bread-crumb mixture, coating well. In a large frying pan, heat about
half an inch of cooking oil over moderate heat until very hot. Fry the
eggplant in the hot oil, in batches, turning once, until golden and
cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels.
4. Arrange half of the eggplant slices in a single layer on a
baking sheet. Put a slice of goat cheese on top of each and then top
with the remaining eggplant slices. Bake until the cheese melts, about
10 minutes. Put the sauce on plates and top with the eggplant.
Oh my goodness! That looks sooooo good!
Posted by: Kelly-Jane | July 19, 2007 at 01:13 AM
I can't tell you how much I want to eat one of those right now. Talk about seriously good. And such gorgeous photos. Wow. And, another use for goat cheese, which I can get from a local producer so am always looking for new ideas.
What can I say? Another one to tag and make soon. Note to self: Get eggplant at the farmers' market tomorrow!
Posted by: Lisa | July 20, 2007 at 04:33 AM
Oh -- and the tarragon! As you may know, I adore that herb and am growing it.
This dish is making me SO happy.
Posted by: Lisa | July 20, 2007 at 04:35 AM
Wow! This looks so good...Noticed that Tanna had made it and loved it so hopefully I can dish it up next week!
Posted by: Tartelette | July 20, 2007 at 11:53 AM
OMG! That is very creative and yummy looking. If I were not on my "no fried food" diet, I would totally try making this.
Posted by: Lannae | July 20, 2007 at 03:13 PM
wow!now that is impressive presentation! fantastic! im just popping down the shops to pick up some eggplant...
Posted by: Elizabeth | July 21, 2007 at 01:30 AM
HOLY COW! I can't imagine this not being over the top delicious. And could you have made it any prettier? I think not! Just gorgeous, my friend. =)
I gotta wonder.. how do you think big slices of zucchini would work? I've got some monsters from our garden that I'd love to use up in a savory recipe while I'm waiting for my baby eggplants to mature. *swoon*
xoxo
Posted by: Lisa | July 21, 2007 at 04:51 AM
Wow- eggplant parm gone upscale! I'll take two, please!
Posted by: s'kat | July 25, 2007 at 09:28 AM
I made these tonight. Y-U-M!
Posted by: April | August 01, 2007 at 06:41 PM
I made these last week. It was really, really good. The leftover tomato-tarragon sauce came in handy too. I tossed in some cauliflower florets, a couple of hand fulls of spinach and some garlic powder and it was great over ravioli. :)
Posted by: Nic | August 05, 2007 at 01:17 PM
With eggplant being one of my favorite vegetables and tarragon my favorite herb and fresh young goat cheese, I will have to try this one and soon. Thanks for the posting!
Posted by: HBennet | June 13, 2011 at 10:53 AM
What a fun, creative idea! These sound like a perfect dinner, lunch, or even snack:-) I love that you named them a "whoopie pie" so perfect! Take care, Terra
Posted by: Terra | November 22, 2011 at 05:45 AM
Oh my...I saw this on Pinterest and just made it tonight. I was literally speechless because it was so good. Even my 'meat-and-potatoes' boyfriend went back for seconds! Thank you so much! I can't wait to try more recipes from your blog.
Posted by: Sara | February 15, 2012 at 07:51 PM
I made this today and wow - it was so good!!!
Posted by: shellie | February 25, 2012 at 10:34 AM
Just tried these tonight & highly recommend! AMAZING! Only thing I didn't have Tarragon on hand so used fresh Oregano....will definitely make again! Thanks for the great recipe.
Posted by: Jacy | March 06, 2012 at 07:36 PM
This is one recipe I have to try.
Posted by: Grandma Barb | July 18, 2012 at 09:01 AM
It looks elegant and tantalizing...!
A brilliant idea to cook eggplants and to shape them as sandwiches..wow..!
Posted by: Rosaria Certo-Crimaldi | December 20, 2012 at 10:28 AM
Made this tonight, it was delicious! My fiancee loved it too! I served it with a salad. I haven't used tarragon before but it was good!
Posted by: Monica | March 12, 2013 at 09:35 PM
This is the most delicious looking dish using eggplant I've ever seen and my family agreed! I pinned this recipe over a year ago and finally got around to making it. It is rich and delicious! But I think it's important to note that, while the instructions are simple, the execution is time consuming and not so simple.
Specifically, the frying was hard for me. You have to make sure your oil is really hot (hotter than you use to cook chicken for example) or your eggplant will get greasy. Too hot the oil burns or burns the outside of the food without cooking it and gives everything a blackish-gray color and burny flavor. If you are an experienced "fryer" (which I am not), the balance of hot but not too hot is probably second nature for you, but it's tricky.
I needed more breadcrumbs and not as much egg for my coating. Also, I had to guess at how thick to cut the eggplant, and since the recipe called for 2 eggplants, I figured the pieces need to be pretty thick so I cut them about 3/8" thick and I still had extra eggplant. I would recommend using only one good-sized eggplant and cutting the slices a little thinner. This will probably make frying faster and easier. I also drained the newly-fried eggplant on paper towels and used the towels to blot the excess oil from the eggplant, too.
The sauce is lovely and a perfect compliment to the rich, crunchy eggplant. I served it with a side of buttered spaghetti which also worked well.
My family loved it and it was decadent. Very yummy, but not a quick dish to make.
Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Posted by: Stacey Meyer | October 10, 2014 at 09:42 PM