It’s getting warmer, and you know what that means. It’s the perfect time to get your hands on some ripe eggplants. Eggplant Napoleons is our favourite eggplant appetizer recipe ever. Favourite because it’s rather tricky to come across a recipe that is vegetarian, gluten-free, low in carbs, and even vegan with the right recipe alterations!
Suppose you love the taste of lovely crispy vegetables served with just the right amount of seasoning for flavour enhancement. In that case, Eggplant Napoleons will become a staple in your kitchen. You will never look at Eggplants the same way once you relish these Napoleons.
What are Eggplant Napoleons?
When somebody thinks of Napoleons, there’s a good chance they think of the traditional French layered pastries. However, where the term “Napoleon” actually comes from is still a mystery. Many think that Napoleons just came about to be an alteration of the word “Napolitain”, a pastry from Naples, Italy. Others believe it comes from the influential French Emperor, Napoleon. He also happened to be a great foodie at the time of the invention of the pastry. Whatever it may be, the only thing the dessert and these Eggplant goodies have in common is the fact that they are layered. The main three layers of the Eggplant Napoleons; the top, middle and last are baked slices of eggplants. The remaining layers enrich the crunchy eggplant; tomatoes, sour cream and cheese.
Why this recipe?
There are many recipes out there, consisting of pan-drying the eggplants before assembling all the different layers together. Nonetheless, our recipe, besides being low-carb, gluten-free, and vegetarian, is also free of unhealthy oils and unnecessary frying. So, there’s your answer. Choose this appetizer recipe because it’s absolutely guilt-free.
What’s in the Eggplant Napoleons?
- Eggplants: The size of the eggplants will determine the slices of the main Napoleon layers.
- Tomatoes: Pick our fresh ones that are tight to the skin; they will prove to be the most crisp for this recipe
- Salt and pepper: Just the one you have at home
- Italian seasoning: Order online or find at your nearest General Store
- Olive oil: Extra-virgin and healthy
- Garlic: Finely diced
- Sour cream: Just the one you find most delicious
- Mozzarella cheese: Either grated or sliced
- Balsamic vinegar: You can find this in the condiment or oil section at your nearest grocery store
- Parsley to garnish: Just a few leaves would do
How to make Eggplant Napoleons?
1- Before beginning the preparation for this recipe, preheat the oven to 200C.
2- Slice the eggplants and tomatoes into 1 cm slices. Peel and dice the garlic cloves, and grate the mozzarella cheese if you haven’t done so already.
3- Now, put all the slices of the eggplants and the tomatoes on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment. Go ahead and sprinkle these slices with some salt and pepper. Next, drizzle the slices with olive oil, before you set them aside to bake for about 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden. Once baked, allow them to cool.
4- Meanwhile, while you wait, in a small mixing bowl, mix sour cream, garlic, salt, and Italian seasoning. We will be using this sour-cream mixture as one of the layers in the Napoleon.
5- Also, in a small mixing bowl, prepare a quick dressing for your baked vegetables by mixing olive oil with balsamic vinegar.
6- Once the slices are baked and the sour cream mixture is also ready, you can begin to assemble the Napoleons. Make sure you create the Napoleon in the following order, eggplant, sour cream, tomato, eggplant, mozzarella, tomato, eggplant. Lightly trickle the dressing over the napoleons, and garnish with chopped parsley.
With your Eggplant Napoleons ready to serve, happy munching!
Top Tips!
- While picking out the eggplants, go for a size about 3.5 or 4 inches in diameter and has little to no curves. Pick out the tomatoes that are also large.
- Upon trying and testing the recipe, you will determine how crispy you like your eggplants and how long you should really leave them in the oven.
Recipe Variations
- For Eggplant Napoleons that are vegan, you can switch out the sour cream for some pesto. With the addition of pine nuts and basil, you can quickly whip it up with the existing ingredients of this recipe. To prepare the pesto, mix the parsley, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, black pepper, salt, pine nuts and basil in a food processor. Blend until the consistency of a thick paste is achieved. Now replace this sour cream layer with this pesto, or however, you may please.
- Some people prefer to dip their Eggplants in egg and bread crumbs before setting them aside to bake. This will mean you add a bit of gluten, but it will still be a minimal amount. Plus, it makes for extra crispy Napoleons.
- The types of vegetables you use to layer your Eggplant Napoleons is also up to you. Other than tomatoes, we encourage you to try yellow squash, red bell peppers, zucchini slices or even red onions.
- Feel free to replace mozzarella cheese with cheddar or edam cheese.
Serving Suggestions
These Eggplant Napoleons are perfect appetizers for a dinner where you want to impress! Guests will be impressed by your simplicity, and we bet they’ll be asking you for the recipe after dinner. Well, you know where to send them. Lastly, although we introduced this recipe as an appetizer, it could very well become the main course when served with a side of chicken or meat. Bon Appetite!
Recipe FAQ’s
Although you can try it, we won’t suggest you do. It will make the eggplant way too soft to sit with all the other layers. Leave the skin on. Don’t worry. The cheese, the balsamic vinegar and olive oil dressing, along with all the complimenting tomatoes, will hardly let you notice that you’re consuming the eggplant with its skin on. That’s why we love this recipe. It’s nutritious, diet-friendly and tastes so good. It’s almost too good to be true.
If we talk about the Eggplant slices, you can bake and store them in air-tight containers, but tomatoes will only taste crunchy if fresh. All the other layers, including the sour cream mixture and dressing, can be refrigerated or whipped up just some while before you want to serve the dish. The eggplant layers of the napoleons were too soft when I tried this recipe.
There are a couple of things you can try. First of all, try cutting the slices slighter thicker than your first attempt. Also, lessen the temperature by about 25 degrees and check every 10 minutes to see if they are done. We hope these suggestions help.
Yes, it’s as vegan friendly as it gets. You can replace the sour cream with any sauce or dressing of your choice. We have advised some pesto under the “recipe variations” heading above. You can also go for some Mediterranean salsa or hummus made at home or purchased from the store. As for the cheese, you can replace it with some tangy vegan mozzarella cheese. When we said this recipe is widely accepted by our readers, we meant to say by vegans, vegetarians, diet-conscious individuals and those that avoid gluten.
More Recipe
Eggplant Napoleons With Mozzarella Cheese
Ingredients
- 3 medium eggplants
- 4 large tomatoes
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 clove garlic , minced
- ⅓ cup sour cream
- 3 Mozzarella cheese , sliced
- 2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- ½ teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 tablespoon parsley , chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200C.
- Slice the eggplants and tomatoes into 2 cm slices.
- Put all the slices on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Drizzle the eggplant slices with olive oil, then bake for about 15-20 minutes or until lightly golden. Allow them to cool.
- Now, in a small mixing bowl, mix sour cream, garlic,salt and Italian seasoning.
- Assemble the Napoleon in the following order, eggplant, sour cream, tomato, eggplant, mozzarella cheese, tomato, eggplant.
- In a small bowl, mix olive oil and balsamic vinegar, lightly drizzle napoleons with the mixture, garnish with chopped parsley and serve.
Notes
- While picking out the eggplants, go for a size about 3.5 or 4 inches in diameter and has little to no curves. Pick out the tomatoes that are also large.
- Upon trying and testing the recipe, you will determine how crispy you like your eggplants and how long you should really leave them in the oven.
Recipe Variations
- For Eggplant Napoleons that are vegan, you can switch out the sour cream for some pesto. With the addition of pine nuts and basil, you can quickly whip it up with the existing ingredients of this recipe. To prepare the pesto, mix the parsley, garlic, olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, black pepper, salt, pine nuts and basil in a food processor. Blend until the consistency of a thick paste is achieved. Now replace this sour cream layer with this pesto, or however, you may please.
- Some people prefer to dip their Eggplants in egg and bread crumbs before setting them aside to bake. This will mean you add a bit of gluten, but it will still be a minimal amount. Plus, it makes for extra crispy Napoleons.
- The types of vegetables you use to layer your Eggplant Napoleons is also up to you. Other than tomatoes, we encourage you to try yellow squash, red bell peppers, zucchini slices or even red onions.
- Feel free to replace mozzarella cheese with cheddar or edam cheese.
Nutrition
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Delicious appetizer recipe and perfect for parties.
The sauce made these mini appetizers even more delicious.