Almond Crusted Prosciutto Wrapped Eggplant

Almond crusted prosciutto wrapped eggplant is an all in one dish that can be used for a fancy dinner for your friends…or a fancy dinner for your kids. ha!

A name for this creation could be really long…considering all the delicious ingredients. But I had to cut it off somewhere. So Almond Crusted Proscuitto Wrapped Eggplant is it.

It’s a dish that is something salty and cheesy…and filling! And to whatever ingredient it is that takes the trophy on making it filling…it takes it.  I/and my family, are constantly “starving” (eye roll)  therefore “filling” is a must.

HOW IT CAME TO BE:

A few months, ago when deciding what to make for dinner, I looked through my fridge only to find some random objects…eggplant, tomatoes, almond meal, mushrooms and balsamic glaze. What? First of all, what in the world HAD I cooked to only have THOSE ingredients in my fridge? I won’t think about that.

My little hamster started speed walking on how I could possibly make something. AND then I thought—what if I could come up with something that was Almond crusted…with mushrooms…topped with balsamic glaze??  After all, everything is better when topped with Balsamic Glaze. 

And oh man, we have already had it 7x for dinner!! slash lunch the days after. You know, doubling up for less cooking. And for lunch, because i get so hungry so fast, it tastes perfectly good right out of the fridge! cold! It turns into a cold parm sandwich! -without the chicken parm part.

Side note: if you’re in the town of New York City and looking for a good bite. You should try Parm.  yuuuum.

Ok, now this is a dish that you have to pre-plan. It requires an assembly line if you may.  And having the line ready before you get deep in it.

ITEMS NEEDED: 

1. large cutting board for pre-wrapped items
2. empty plate or dish to place wrapped eggplants on before crusting
3. two dishes: one dish for almond meal mixture and one dish for egg white mixture. *because prosciutto is NOT sticky, in order for the almond meal to stick, it needs a binding agent. I like to use egg whites, but you can use the whole egg. 

STEPS for success:

1. decide if you are right handed or left handed and which direction you do assembly lines:)
2. lay out all ingredients chopped and cut ready for assembly at the beginning of the line.
3. don’t forget to have the pre-parchment jelly roll pan/prepared dish at the END of the line. 
4. start the procession of wonderful ingredients!
5. it can be assembled in any order. The only required item is to have the prosciutto on the very bottom…it holds it all together.
6. **TIP: I wrap all my eggplants and place them on a plate (as seen below) and then dip them all in the egg white mixture followed by almond meal.  I use one hand as the dipping and the other as the grabbing. This way you don’t get clumps of the breading on that which is to be breaded, BEFORE its actually breaded. Capeesh?  
7. Gather your friends and everyone can file through, stuffing and almond dusting their own eggplant stack!

My favorite line up…prosciutto, eggplant, mozzarella, tomato, basil, mushroom.

For any and all stray ingredients, simply dip in egg white mixture and coat in almond meal and bake with the rest. They will be good.

Bake @ 400 for about 15 min or until cheese is oozing out of the middle. yum yum. OH and top with balsamic glaze:)

*If you need a delicious roasted tomato sauce to serve with some noodles on the side??…I’ve got you covered:)

 

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