Wine Roasted Tomato & Eggplant Salad

Wine Roasted Tomato & Eggplant Salad with Stracciatella & Basil Sourdough Crumb. 

Hearty enough for a vegetarian main, or great as a side salad for Christmas Day, Meelie's Kitchen has nailed the recipe that we'll be serving up all summer long. 

Salad:

500g ripe cherry tomatoes
6 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1 sprig of rosemary
¼ tsp chilli flakes (optional)
1 heaped tbsp butter
¾ cup white wine, or rose
2 eggplants, cut into 2cm thick rounds

Basil Sourdough Crumb:

2 slices of old or stale sourdough (about 1cm thick)
1 bunch fresh basil (about 15g), plus extra to serve
1/3 cup finely grated Parmasen or Pecorino 

To Serve:

100g Stracciatella or burrata
Basil leaves

Preheat your oven to 200C fan-bake (or 220C regular bake)

Make salad:

Add cherry tomatos, smashed garlic, rosemary (leave the spring whole), chilli flakes (if using) and butter to a small roasting dish lined with baking paper. Pour over wine, drizzle generously with olive oil and season well with salt and papper. Roast on the upper oven rack for 35-40 minutes, until tomatoes are blistered and liquid has reduced. Discard rosemary and season to taste with salt.

Meanwhile, cut eggplants into 2cm thick round. Place on a lined over tray and brush both sides generous with olive oil (about 4-5 Tbsp total). Season well with salt and pepper and roast on the rack below tomatoes for about 25 minutes, until golden and very tender.

Make crumb:

Drizzle sourdough generously with olive oil on both sides, rub oil into the bread. Season with salt. Place on lined oven tray and bake for 12-15 minutes, until very golden brown and crunchy all the way through (keep an eye on it, it can burn quickly). Set aside to cool. Once sourdough has cooled, break it up into chunks, add to a small food processor (or nutribullet), along with basil and parmesan. Pulse together into a fine crumb. Season to with salt and set aside to serve.

To serve, arrange eggplant over a serving dish. Spoon over roasted tomatoes and Stracciatella. Sprinkle over basil sourdough crumb and some extra basil leaves. Drizzle with olive oil and season with flakey salt.

Shop Meelie's look with our Thea Bowl and Bianco Salad Servers.

For more from Amelia Ferrier, follow her at @melies_kitchen