PORTOBELLO & EGGPLANT STACKS WITH PESTO GRITS

I love a “stack'” -especially in the Summer when I can use heirloom tomatoes and tons of basil. This is one of my hubby’s favorites – coming from Southern Georgia, he loves his grits, especially when they are “adulterated” with pesto!

I love this for a weeknight family meal because it’s not at all fiddly to make. It’s all about creating little parcels and then throwing them on the grill. Even my ten year-old daughter loves this dish because it’s kind of meaty like a burger, but bursting with incredible Summery flavors.

PORTOBELLO & EGGPLANT STACKS WITH PESTO GRITS

1 large eggplant, cut into ¼”slices
4 large Portobello mushrooms, skins removed
4tsp olive oil
4 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
2 large heirloom tomatoes, cut into ¼” slices
1 ball buffalo mozzarella cheese, sliced
1cup yellow grits
21/2 cups water
2 tsp pesto, (jar or homemade is fine)
Sea Salt & cracked pepper to taste
A small bunch of fresh basil.

Pre-heat oven to 400 F or set your grill to “high”

Place your slices of eggplant in a colander in the sink and cover each slice with salt. Leave them for 1/2 an hour, then rinse of the salt and pat each slice dry.

Grease a grill pan with olive oil and set it over a high heat or on your grill.  Grill the eggplant slices until they soften and have lovely grill stripes over them (about 3-4 minutes each side). Remove and set them aside.

Cut out a 10×10” square of foil per mushroom.

Place a mushroom on each square and top with 1tsp olive oil and 1tbsp Worcestershire sauce.

Top with an eggplant slice and a tomato slice. Make a bundle/packet with the foil.

Place the packets in the oven for 25 minutes. Remove from oven and open packet. Top each stack with a thick slice of Mozzarella and place back in the oven for a further five minutes.

Meanwhile, place the grits in a small saucepan with the water. Bring to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes, while stirring continuously. Remove from heat, stir in 1 tbsp of olive oil, the pesto and season with the salt and pepper.

Pour a small lake of the pesto grits into the center of a large plate and using a spatula, carefully place a Portobello stack on top of the grits.

Finally, top with 3 or 4 basil leaves.