Ingredients

• 2 eggplants
• One whole fresh mozzarella cheese ball (4.5oz - 125g)
• 12 fresh basil leaves
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• ¼ cup virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• Frying vegetable oil

• For the Batter

• ½ tsp dried yeast
• 1 ½ cups all purpose plain flour
• 1 ½ cups warm water
• Salt

Steps

• Step 1

  For the batter, sift the flour into a mixing bowl and add the yeast and dried oregano.  Mix dry ingredients using a whisk.

• Step 2

  Add the Luke warm water, mix well until smooth without lumps and leave to rest at room temperature half an hour.

• Step 3

  Cut the mozzarella cheese into roughly 1/8  inch or 3mm thick slices

• Step 4

  Slice the eggplant into roughly ¼ inch or 5mm thick slices.

• Step 5

  Using a large non stick pan, add a little bit of olive oil and fry eggplant slices on each side until brown.   Leave to cool then refrigerate.

• Step 6

  Season each slice with salt and pepper, then add freshly torn basil leaves.  Sandwich a slice of mozzarella cheese in between two slices of eggplant.  Flatten to pack firmly.

• Step 7

  Get your frying oil to a temperature of 350°F – 180°C.

• Step 8

  Using a fork, lower the eggplant into the batter (keep it quite thin otherwise it can be too oily) and place in hot frying oil.  Cook until golden brown, and flip over to cook other side.  Once cooked, place over absorbent paper and serve hot with a marinara sauce.

Little Tips

You can refrigerate and reheat them at 350°F - 180°C for 25 minutes, they will re-crisp.