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Bon Appétit

Open-Face Eggplant Sandwiches With Ricotta and Pickled Onions

4.5

(36)

Image may contain Plant Food Vegetable and Eggplant
Photo by Emma Fishman, Food Styling by Tami Hardeman

While pan-fried eggplant is extraordinarily delicious, sometimes you need a preparation that’s quick and low-mess. For this dinner-worthy sandwich, you’ll sear the eggplant on the stove, then marinate it in oil and vinegar to make it silky-soft and flavor-packed. The eggplant is great on its own—chop it up and serve it with hummus and pickled vegetables—but works well on an open-face sandwich paired with creamy ricotta and crunchy red onion. Feel free to use sherry vinegar, Champagne vinegar, or white wine vinegar in place of the red wine vinegar. This recipe is part of the 2020 Healthyish Farmers Market Challenge. Get all 8 recipes here.

Recipe information

  • Yield

    Makes 4

Ingredients

½

small red onion, thinly sliced

Big pinch of sugar

Kosher salt

3

Tbsp. red wine vinegar, divided

1

small eggplant (about 8 oz.), sliced ¼" thick

1

Tbsp. plus 1½ tsp. extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing

Freshly ground black pepper

½

cup walnuts

½

cup basil leaves

¾

cup fresh whole-milk ricotta

¼

tsp. honey

1

garlic clove

4

slices country-style bread, toasted

Green leaf, red leaf, or romaine lettuce leaves (for serving)

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Preheat oven to 350°. Combine red onion, sugar, a big pinch of salt, 2 Tbsp. vinegar, and 2 Tbsp. hot water in a small bowl. Let sit, tossing occasionally, until you’re ready to assemble sandwiches.

    Step 2

    Brush eggplant rounds generously with oil on one side. Heat a large skillet, preferably nonstick, over medium-high. Working in batches if needed, cook eggplant in skillet, oil side down, in a single layer, until well browned, about 4 minutes. Brush each round with oil, turn over, and cook until other side is browned and eggplant is tender, about 3 minutes. Transfer to a baking dish or wide shallow bowl.

    Step 3

    Whisk 1 Tbsp. plus 1½ tsp. oil and remaining 1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar in another small bowl to combine; season with salt and pepper. Pour over eggplant, toss gently to coat, and set aside.

    Step 4

    Toast walnuts on a rimmed baking sheet, tossing halfway through, until golden brown, 6–8 minutes. Let cool slightly, then pile on a cutting board along with basil. Add a pinch of salt and finely chop. Transfer to a clean small bowl and add ricotta and honey. Finely grate in garlic and mix well; season with salt and pepper.

    Step 5

    Spread ricotta mixture over toast. Top with lettuce leaves, pickled onion, and reserved eggplant.

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Reviews (36)

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  • I made this as a side dish, not as a sandwich. It was very tasty. I did not make fresh ricotta. I just whipped up some from a container. The pickled onions are a very nice addition. Make sure you grate the garlic. Makes a big difference in the flavor of the ricotta.

    • Elizabeth

    • Martha's Vineyard, MA

    • 9/19/2023

  • What is meant by "fresh ricotta?" Is it different than the ricotta sold in tubs in most grocery stores? One site said fresh meant ricotta salt, which is a crumbly texture, quite dry in comparison to the ricotta in tubs.

    • Anonymous

    • San Francisco

    • 3/13/2022

  • Chopping the warm walnuts with fresh basil is lovely and I never would have thought of it! This is delicious but I couldn't eat much as it is very rich - I used a local fresh-made ricotta, which was already pretty rich on its own, and adding walnuts made it quite a bit richer. The ricotta mix would make a lovely filling in something bite-sized and geared towards the hors d'oeuvres side of things.

    • Anonymous

    • SC

    • 8/16/2021

  • This was a yummy lunch! I second another reviewer's comment about the honey being weird; it overwhelmed the flavor profile a bit in my opinion. Next time I may exclude altogether or just use a tiny drop and/or add some Aleppo chili flakes to balance out the sweetness. I left out the walnuts because I wasn't in the mood to preheat the oven, dirty another pan, etc... which leads me to another point: this is quite fussy for a sandwich. But I suppose many good things are fussy... I appreciated the artistry and combination of flavors and textures, but it took *forever* to pan fry all the eggplant even with the widest pan I have. I may broil the eggplant in the oven on a sheet pan next time for faster results. All in all, a fun way to mix up the lunch repertoire!

    • SA

    • Arlington, VA

    • 7/20/2021

  • Excellent idea for eggplant..its savoury sweet tangy all rolled into one, and carbs are low cause its OPEN FACE YEAH!!

    • Gillian

    • Toronto Canada

    • 7/19/2021

  • Super delicious, and a lovely end of week "reset". I ended up doing a full pickle of the red onions the day before, and used sunflower seeds instead of walnuts due to an allergy. Very yummy, filling, flavorful, and colorful.

    • Billie

    • Pittsburgh, PA

    • 4/26/2021

  • So good! Did not have the walnuts on hand but it was still wonderful and minimal mess!

    • Anonymous

    • Houston, TX

    • 3/28/2021