Eggplant cordon bleu

How good the eggplants, especially in this period that are in season. Here, today I prepared these tasty baked eggplant Cordon bleu, much lighter than the fried ones but I assure you that they are equally delicious and tasty. As a filling I used the classic prosciutto and mozzarella, but if you want you can indulge yourself and use other ingredients to your taste... And of course if you are greedy you can also make them fried instead of baked! 😜

The term "cordon bleu" refers to a dish based on chicken or turkey cutlet stuffed with prosciutto and cheese. In this vegetable variant, the slices of meat will be replaced by eggplant slices, which will contain a tasty filling of cooked prosciutto, stringy cheese and basil. The eggplant cordon bleu will be wrapped in a crispy and golden breading of flour, eggs and breadcrumbs and then baked in the oven – as in our recipe, for a lighter preparation.

Ingredients

2 eggplants

salt to taste

250 g cooked prosciutto

250 g mozzarella 

2 eggs

milk to taste

breadcrumbs to taste

extra virgin olive oil to taste

Preparation

For the baked eggplant Cordon bleu, rinse and dry the eggplant. Cut them into slightly thicker slices than you would to breaded them normally. Then make a deep cut in the middle of each one, without reaching the end with the knife (they must remain slightly attached on an edge). Salt the eggplant slices and put them in a large colander, so that they lose the vegetation water, which can sometimes be bitter. Cover them with an upside-down plate and put a weight on top (such as a liter of milk or other). After half an hour, rinse them for an hour and dry them with kitchen paper. Meanwhile, cut the mozzarella into slices, if you use ''fiordilatte'' then put it on absorbent paper to lose the liquid. If, like me, you use mozzarella for pizza you don't need to do it.

Now stuff the eggplant slices with slices of mozzarella and prosciutto. Be careful not to put too much mozzarella otherwise it could leak and burn during cooking. Close the eggplants well with the filling inside and they are ready to be bread. Beat the eggs in a deep dish or container and add a drop of milk. In the second dish or container put plenty of breadcrumbs. Pass the stuffed and tightly closed eggplants, first in the beaten egg and then in the breadcrumbs. Turn them well from all sides even where there is the attachment between one slice and the other in order to seal perfectly.

Line the baking tray with parchment paper and place the slices stuffed with eggplant. Add a little extra virgin olive oil on the surface and bake the baked eggplant Cordon bleu at about 200 °C (static oven) for 25-30 minutes. In the last minutes I placed on ventilated to make them brown on the surface. However check in your oven. When they are ready, take the baked eggplant Cordon bleu out of the oven and serve. Enjoy your meal!