I am so excited to tell you all about this dish. It was fun to make and a first for me because I typically lean more towards full-bodied meals rather than dainty little sides but as soon as I saw the inspiration (the cutest little baby eggplants) for my Eggplant Napoleon I was fired up to give it a whirl.
Layers of juicy garlic roasted eggplant are sandwiched with roasted zucchini and onions in between plump sheets of puff pastry, I basil and a spicy red pepper sauce. The flavors are earthy and filling and FRESH! This is a simple dish and you can find all the vegetables right now in season at your local grocery store or farmer’s market. It is healthy, packed with flavor and screams gourmet (although it really takes no time or effort at all). Perfect for a light brunch, lunch or even cut out as miniature appetizers- My Fierce Eggplant Napoleon with puff pastry and red pepper cream is utterly delicious. I beg you to try and talk at the dinner table while eating this dish. No words, just bites!
Why puff patry? We are carb eating addicts in this house and if I am too pull off a meatless dish for the hubs then I better have some type of bread to back it up. A crunch, a common ground so to speak. Slices of everyday bread would not hold up to the juiciness of the vegetables nor would it look very appealing so I thought the next best thing to chewy bread is flaky sheets of dough!
This Eggplant Napoleon is a little different than most recipes you might find out there. Typically there is a layer of cheese and hefty spoonful of some type of tomato sauce accompanying this dish but I wanted to go a little lighter so I mixed things up a bit. The theme around my kitchen is I like to do things “my” way so I took the idea of a basic Napoleon and dressed it up with flavors and ingredients that I love to use- eggplant, basil, red peppers and onions. The flavors are enough to make you go crazy, take your bra off and run around in the streets- Insane! (took that line from my mom’s book!)
- 4 baby eggplants or 1 large eggplant thinly sliced vertically
- 1 clove of garlic, minced
- 1 red or yellow onion, peeled and thinly sliced
- *Optional: 1 zucchini, sliced
- 2 sheets of puff pastry
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 3 tsp minced roasted red pepper (in a can)
- 1½ tsp salt and pepper each
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp Spanish thyme
- 1-2 tsp Devo Olive Oil
- ⅓ cup fresh basil (or whichever herb you like best)
- Remove tops and bottoms from the eggplants and slice vertically into very thin pieces. Thinly slice the onion (and zucchini-optional) and arrange it with the sliced eggplant and garlic on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, season with ½ tsp salt and pepper each and ½ tsp Spanish thyme. Roast at 400 for 10-15 minutes.
- Meanwhile, thaw out your puff pastry according to the package directions. Cut the dough into small rectangles (should have 3 long layers for sheet once rolled out- cut each long layer into 3 separate triangles) and lay each rectangle of dough flat on a baking sheet poked with holes from a fork. Bake according to the package directions then place aside to let it cool.
- To make the red pepper cream (the glue that holds it all together) mix the ricotta cheese, minced roasted red pepper strips, remaining salt, pepper and Spanish thyme, red pepper flakes and ½ cup grated (not shredded) Parmesan cheese. Mix well and refrigerate until time to assemble.
- Assembly:
- Start with the one piece of puff pastry as the base, and then add on a layer of the red pepper cream, then eggplant, layer of basil, layer of zucchini, layer of onions and finally another sheet of puff pastry. Repeat this process once more (or twice if you prefer) ending with the puff pastry.
Mercy Girlfriend! I do NOT eat eggplant, no way, no how BUT your pictures sure do make it look beautifully delicious!
Happy Wednesday Friend,
Xo
What a great recipe! I love the use of the phyllo dough and a red pepper sauce. It turns this dish into a nice summer meal, fresh and light! Nice presentation too!!
Oh, yum, I love eggplant! The spicy cream sounds delicious. I would totally spread that on many other things! 🙂
I had fun exploring your blog this morning. Love the tips section. This meal is a fabulous idea.
amazing. i double heart eggplant! 🙂 can’t wait to make this…i have a very looong list of jessica meals that i am dying to try! have a fabulous day girl!
perfect in every way
I love eggplant and what a fun dish to make for a party. So dainty just like you said
How cute are those little eggplants. So adorable and I love using the red pepper cream instead of tomato sauce or pesto. beautiful!
Bow Chicka wow wow…..I think you hit the nail on the head with this one! Im loving some eggplant these days, it is very new for me, before I wouldnt even try it but Im opening up to new things and finding out what Ive been missing. Maybe we can get together in Monroe and eat Pieworks Eggplant Parmesan pizza and fininsh it off with Orange Leaf! They are in the same shopping center also! HaHa
On my way to the grocery store..Yum!
What a perfect idea for a brunch. Can’t wait to try the eggplant and the red pepper sauce with phyllo. You have the best pictures. It makes everything look so tasty.
I have abt 10 eggplants that are almost ready to pick….now I know what to do with them 🙂
I love how I can literally taste this dish as I’m reading your post. I just recently discovered my love of eggplants and this napolean sounds
like a winner!
This sounds fantastic. Please write a cookbook with all your amazing recipes?
Right now I’m trying to talk myself out of my current juice cleanse that I started this morning…This and a glass of wine are winning!
How funny… I just used up a roll of phyllo dough that had been sitting in my freezer for I don’t know how long :)… Guess I’ll just have to go buy another one! The pictures on this post are outstanding Jessica… Great angles, composition, and lighting.
The only napoleons I’ve ever had are those sweet little Italian pastries. But eggplant actually sounds WAY better!
Ahhhh I really heart this! Eggplants are my fav and baby ones … come on! Amazing!
This is quite spectacular and I’ve printed out the recipe. It will be another month before local eggplant appears in our markets but I’ll be ready.
Thanks!
Best,
Bonnie
This sounds so tasty, I love the ricotta in there too!
Yum!!! What a delicious idea! I am definitely going to need to go on a search for eggplant!
xo
Gah! Phyllo dough…the bane of my baking experience. However, you make the dish look and sound so tasty, I’ll have to give it another shot!
Love filo dough, love eggplant. This looks perfect. Now if I could only convince my non-eggplant-loving husband to give it a shot. Maybe I’ll tell him it’s meat or something. 🙂
omg delicious, delicious, delicious!! I’m a big fan of eggplant and this recipe looks just too tasty, you’re making me extra hungry, lol
You have a really cool blog with great photos and posts so I’m following now. I hope you can visit my page soon also! I just started 2 months ago and I would appreciate the support so much!
Hugs from NYC
–Lorena
TravelDesignery.com
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yummmmmmmmmmmmmmm. This looks fantastic! I bet that flaky phyllo dough really makes it! Eggplant is awesome. I wish my husband was a fan!
Looove this idea! Great use of phyllo dough and veg! Looks and sounds fantastic!
yummy yum yum. i love eggplant. too bad no one else in my household does. i will be making this for ME. i have a slight love affair with phyllo dough i must say. add a glass of good red and this would make my night!
This looks so perfectly fancy yet it is so simple….gotta love that.
I love phyllo dough, and eggplant, and well pretty much everything in this recipe! Yummy 🙂
This looks delicious. I think it would be perfect to serve at a bridal or baby shower! Thanks for stopping by my blog, I will be following you from now on:)
Yum!! This looks like the perfect light summer meal!! And I love that you used phyllo dough as the “bread”!
Your right, no words here- just hearing my stomach growl!
This looks simply devine!!! I love the use of eggplant and phyllo 🙂 Will have to look for Spanish thyme. Thanks!
This recipe looks absolutely delicious, wonderful flavorings. I have some awards I would like to share with you on my blog. If you are interested just copy and paste, link back to me, list 7 things about yourself and pass them on! Hope that is ok, just let me know
Mary
Wow, this looks SO fantastic! I love that it’s eggplant season. I could easily devour anything with ricotta cheese…maybe my Italian background, but to me, there is just nothing better!
Another good recipe.
the first pic is amazing, then i spotted the little eggplants(too cute) great recipe..love the addition of roasted red pepper!
sweetlife
This is such a good idea!! I love all these ingredients, and the presentation is beautiful 🙂
ahhh how fun! I love the puff pastry and eggplant together! yum!
O.k. so I normally hate eggplant. It’s basically the only veggie I don’t eat. But this sounds lovely and your photos are beautiful. You may be turning me…
Oh my! Eggplant, puff pastry, spicy red pepper cream? What an absolutely fabulous combination! I love it.
I love your concept – such a healthy napolean! I can’t wait to harvest my eggplants and give this a try! Thanks for sharing your recipe with the Hearth and Soul Hop.
Wow! This recipe is a dream come true..It has all the flavors I LOVE..
Thank you so much for sharing such a treat
ahhhh puff pastry – so gorgeous!
you had my at napolean. one of my favorite ways to eat fruits and veggies- stuufed btw layers of dough!
There is something amazing about the combination of eggplant and ricotta. mmm sounds so good right now!
Oh my goodness girl! This looks amazing! I love puff pasty and you can literally throw anything in a flaky puff pastry and I’m all over it. I’m a huge carb girl as well. When we were in Disneyland, I swear I ate carbs at every meal. I treated myself to a bagel or steel cut oats every morning and had pizza for lunch. I was quite a piggy and am eating tons of kale this week to make up for it. The good thing is that we walked for 3 days straight going through the parks, so I feel like I worked off every calorie! Have a great week sister 🙂 xoxo, Jackie
I am convinced! I have two little puff pastry sheets and now I know exactly how to use it.
I love your creativity my friend. This looks yum and presented so beautifully 🙂
I love eggplant and you could serve me anything on puffed pastry and I’d lick the plate clean. This looks brilliant!
I think anything is good in puff pastry. This is a creative way to enjoy eggplants.
This is such a great idea! I love puff pastries and eggplants! Until this very moment, I never ever thought of using eggplant WITH puff pastries. This recipe is meant for me! I’m very excited to give this a try very very soon!
Oh la la – this is a HAVE TO MAKE ASAP! What a beautiful recipe Belle, thank you so much for sharing it.
🙂 Mandy xo
This just might make me run through the streets bra-less and like I’m insane! It looks soooooo darn good! Printed and will be on our table soon. 🙂
What a luxurious sandwich for vegetarians!! I am leaning towards vegetarianism too, and always in search of meal ideas. I am thrilled that you have shared this recipe because it will be on my menu next weekend…. can’t wait!!! Yum
This is outstanding. I think my family will love it.
I am such a big eggplant fan and this looks awesome.
This dish is perfect when entertaining friends.
I wish I could just bite into this. Looks absolutely fantastic!!!