Vegan Eggplant Recipe – Eggplant Almond Cheese Stacks with Spinach Pesto & Balsamic Syrup

Vegan Eggplant Recipe - Eggplant Almond Cheese Stacks with Spinach Pesto & Balsamic Syrup

These little morsels were gobbled up at dinner. Aren’t they pretty?  Your going to love this vegan eggplant recipe!

The family thought this was my best almond cheese yet and Mike said I could sell it, these are rare words and only spoken with he really likes something. Calista, who is rather critical agreed, she even loved the pesto, she doesn’t like basil pesto, weird I know, but spinach is a go. There are lots of steps, but you can serve the extra pesto and almond cheese on top of pasta (they ate the leftovers on top of lemon butter (Earth Balance) gnocchi).  So yes this recipe has to go in my cookbook!

Balsamic Syrup

Ingredients:

• 1 c balsamic vinegar

Directions:

1. Bring balsamic vinegar to a low simmer and simmer for 45 minutes to 1 hour until it reduces and thickens.

Spinach Pesto

Ingredients:

• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 large handfuls of baby spinach
• 4 T olive oil
• ¼ c parsley
• 1/3 c toasted walnuts
• 1 t grated lemon rind
• juice of ½ lemon
• salt, pepper, crushed red pepper
• water, about ¼ cup

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients except water in food processor and process until well combined, add a little water to reach desired consistency, taste, add more seasoning if necessary.

Almond Cheese

Ingredients:

• 1 ½ c slivered, blanched almonds, soaked in water overnight, drained and rinsed
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 T tamari
• 2 T olive oil
• salt, pepper, crushed red pepper
• water, about ¼ cup
• 2 T chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients (start with 1/8 cup of water) except parsley in high speed blender.
2. Blend until smooth, add more water if needed, taste and adjust seasoning if necessary.
3. Place mixture in bowl and mix in parsley.

Breaded Eggplant

Ingredients:

• 1 c panko
• 2 t dried oregano
• crushed red pepper, salt, pepper, garlic powder
• ½ c plain almond milk
• 4 or 5 Indian Eggplants, sliced thin (you could use Japanese or regular eggplant too)
• olive oil

Directions:

1. Mix panko and seasonings in shallow pan.
2. Place sliced eggplant in almond milk to coat then toss in panko mixture.
3. Fry in olive oil over medium high heat until nicely browned.
4. Cook in batches and place cooked eggplant in oven to keep warm while you cook the remainder of eggplant.

Assembly:

1. Place one slice of eggplant on plate, top with a little almond cheese, another eggplant, and then a dollop of pesto with a little balsamic reduction sprinkled on top, repeat with the remainder of your eggplant slices!

Eggplant Almond Cheese Stacks with Spinach Pesto and Balsamic Syrup2

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• Eggplant Hummus(zestyvegan.com)

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