Ingredients:
– White toast: appropriate amount
3. Spread a layer of tomato sauce on the toast slice. 4. Place a slice of ham on the toast slice. 5. Sprinkle an appropriate amount of mozzarella cheese. 6. Layer fried eggplant slices on top of the mozzarella cheese. 7. Sprinkle a layer of mozzarella cheese over the eggplant slices. 8. Layer diced onions or green peppers on top of the mozzarella cheese. 9. Sprinkle another layer of mozzarella cheese on top. 10. Transfer the prepared toast to a baking tray lined with aluminum foil or parchment paper. 11. Place in a preheated oven at 160°C and bake for 10 minutes. Remove, sprinkle with an appropriate amount of black pepper, and bake for an additional 2 minutes. Enjoy your delicious creation!
Frying the Eggplant Properly
Eggplant decides whether this toast ends up crisp or sodden, so give the frying real attention. Cut rounds of even thickness, about the width of a finger, so they cook at the same speed, and let the pan get properly hot before the first slice goes in. Fry until each side is deeply golden and the flesh looks collapsed and creamy rather than pale and spongy. Undercooked eggplant stays cottony next to melted cheese, and an extra 2 minutes in the oven will not fix it.
Drain the finished rounds on a paper towel while you assemble everything else. Eggplant drinks oil as it fries, and whatever it holds ends up sitting on the bread.
Make It Ahead
- The fried eggplant rounds hold their texture for a day in the refrigerator, so fry them in the morning and assemble at dinner.
- Dice the onion and tear the ham ahead too, and the whole thing becomes a five-minute build before the 160°C (320°F) oven.
- Do not sauce the toast in advance. Ketchup sitting on bread for hours means a gummy base no matter how well the rest went.
Serving Ideas
One slice per person makes a good light lunch with a sharp green salad or a bowl of soup; two make a proper dinner. Cut each piece on the diagonal so the layers of cheese, ham and eggplant show in cross-section. The final 2-minute bake after the black pepper goes on is worth keeping, since the heat takes the raw edge off the pepper, and a few torn basil leaves scattered after it comes out sit nicely against the tomato and onion.
Questions Cooks Ask
Can I use a different vegetable? Zucchini rounds fried the same way, or thick mushroom slices, both fit the same layering order. Just cook them until their water has cooked off before they go on the toast.
Why did the cheese slide off in one sheet? Usually a thick tomato sauce layer sitting on top of the bread instead of gripping it. Keep the sauce thin and press each layer down lightly as you build.
